A Replica of Love
by Georgia Doe
Summary: sequel to 'Life of a Military Dog,' Riza and Roy are now happily married. But tragedy soon falls on the new couple, leaving only broken hearts and lost souls. Puzzles are hard to put together if you're missing some of the pieces. RizaXRoy
1. Chapter 1

A/N I'll bet you're wondering why I took so long to update when I said it would be sooner. Here are my excuses: I needed to work on the story more; it wasn't working out for me so I had to retype it; or I was too lazy to type it. Pick whichever you want. Only one of them is true, can you guess which? Anyhow, you finally got to me. My reviewers have been begging me for bigger, better lemon scenes ever since the first one I did. Now it's the honeymoon, I have finally given in, so this is my warning: lotsa lemony stuff ahead, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own FMA, never will. –Cries-

"Roy, get out, we're here," Riza said excitedly, "Wake up already!"

"What?" Roy asked, coming back to reality.

"We're here, stop sleeping already!" Riza said, pulling Roy out of the car. They had rented a cabin on a tropical island for their honeymoon; they left the day after the wedding. They unloaded their bags and got out of the car, it felt good to be on solid land again. The boat trip there had taken all day, and they spent the last few hours in a taxi driving there. Roy paid the driver and helped Riza take out their luggage; they were only spending a few days there because of their needed return too work.

"It's beautiful here," Riza sighed, walking next to Roy on the path that supposedly led them to their lodgings. The moon was almost full, but not quite. "You can't find nights like this out in the city, with nothing but the hooting of the owls and fresh air," she said, counting the stars, "I used to know all of the constellations when I was young, but, after not seeing them clear for so long I guess I forgot. When you're in the city and all the time just running from one place too another, you forget to stop and notice things like the night sky."

Roy smiled, and they kept walking. "Tomorrow night's moon should be full," he said, gazing up at it, "it's supposed to be a real eye opener in such a tranquil, nice place."

"We should go out and see it," Riza replied, "It's so warm here we could spend the night outside." The climate was really quite hot, it felt like summer. But, that's what you get in the tropics; Riza hoped she could come here again sometime. They walked on in silence for another few minutes, before coming to the cabin. It was made of wood, and was quite nice.

It had a simple one-story structure, with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. There were also several closets, but nothing else really other than some assorted furniture. Riza wandered into the bedroom, and set down her suitcase. They would only be there two nights and three days, so they hadn't packed much.

"Hey Roy," she called; opening up her suitcase and making sure she had everything. She had packed her best lingerie, including the new stuff she got from Gracia for a wedding present the day before.

"What's up?" Roy asked, dragging in his suitcase.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Riza said, grabbing a bra and some underwear to put on after her bathing, "then we can go to sleep so we can get up early tomorrow to have fun and explore around here."

"What?" Roy gasped, "But, but, but Riza, it's the honeymoon-"

"I know," Riza smiled, "I swear, one hint at no sex and you go pale as a ghost. It was a joke, you can start breathing again." She smirked, and walked past him to the bathroom. "You can't take a single sex joke, really."

The door shut and locked, as Roy sat down on the bed. "I can take a joke," he pouted, "that was just cruel, why does she always do that?"

Riza fell down on her knees laughing in the bathroom. "Oh god, the expression on his face," she wiped tears out of the corners of her eyes, that was too great. She eventually recovered from her laughter, and got in the shower for a cold rinse. It was so warm here it was refreshing to have the water cold, though it got a bit chilly after a while. She got out and dried herself off; Roy was undoubtedly waiting for her expectantly. She pulled on her lingerie, a pink bra with black lace around the edges and matching panties, and opened the door to the bathroom and walked out.

Roy was lying in bed in his white undershirt, wearing that casual, lovely, sexy, wonderful smirk that the author of this fic utterly adores. The lights were all out other than the light of the moon, which shone through an open window, seeing as you cannot turn off the moon. Riza walked over, swinging her hips for good measure, and slipped into bed beside Roy. "Goodnight sweetie," she said, lying down and closing her eyes.

Roy gaped for a moment, before remembering earlier. "Yeah, see you in the morning when we wake up," he said in a mock casual voice, lying down next to her as well. Riza smiled, it took him a while, but he finally caught on. Roy pulled his arms around Riza's waist. "Remember when every night I would hold you like this?" he whispered in her ear, moving his hands further up her chest, "and like this?"

He squeezed her breasts, massaging them firmly. There's a certain subtlety that is needed in seduction, which at this point Roy was using fully to his advantage. Roy began sucking on Riza's neck, and squeezing her tits. They were hard, a bit longer and she'd probably be wet. Riza tried as hard as she could to ignore the stimulating things Roy was doing, she would tease him for as long as she could. But damn, now he was necking her, that's no fair! Riza gasped, lightly as she could, she couldn't hold back how aroused she was for long; Roy was too good at this. Roy smirked as Riza gasped, she couldn't hold back any longer. Roy moved one of his hands off her breasts and down further. He reached down, massaging her between the legs.

"Roy, Roy, please, no more games," Riza said, her head was fogged over with pleasure.

"Nope, I think I like them," Roy smirked, "You're going to have to beg for me."

Riza bowed to no one. She had her dignity, but oh god, now he was squeezing her clit, this was just utterly unfair! "Roy, come on, you want to move on already too, Roy," she whined, she was moaning now at regular intervals.

"Beg for it," Roy said, he was finally getting her back for all of her teasing.

"Roy please, come on Roy."

"You didn't sound like you really meant it. Try again."

"Roy! Fine, please, I'm begging you, just pull off your pants already!" Roy smiled.

"For you Riza, I would do anything," he whispered, blowing in her ear. Riza unhooked her bra, pulling off her few clothes, before reaching down to help Roy's boxers off. She couldn't believe it; for once _she_ was the one begging for sex, not the other way around. This was madness, but it was so sexy, who cared. Riza kissed Roy, tongue and all, as he pulled her close and entered her. It hurt a bit, but was much better than the first time. Riza moaned as he pulled out and came back in, this was way better. Roy continued, speeding upuntil they both climaxed, their breathing heavy. "Wait Riza, what about, you know," Roy questioned.

"I've got it covered Roy, I'm not as forgetful as you," Riza smirked, "I took birth control pills a few hours ago on the boat when you were puking. Up for another go?" This was indeed a very merry Christmas for Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.

A/N I can't believe I typed that up, please excuse me while I leave to go sit in embarrassment with a red face for an hour. You have the song 'Let Me,' by Rihanna to thank for this chapter; I couldn't have written it without listening to this music, she's one of my favorite singers. Well, the sequel is finally started, I'm going to try and get in as much happiness and humor as I can before the sadness kicks in. This is your Christmas present people, so enjoy it. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and to all a good night!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Yes, at long last I'm updating. I got an email from one of my reviewers, telling me to 'FING UPDATE!' so I decided it was high time to do such. Now I've had my break from writing for a while, I feel better, so I hope this chapter's up to scratch. It's mostly just some humor, and random adventures of the honeymooners as they head to the beach. I'm just having fun right now; the main story doesn't start for a little while longer so bear with me! Anyhow, here you go!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA

"Roy, hurry up," Riza yelled, waiting at the top of the path. Roy followed her up the path as Riza ran ahead. How could she have so much energy so early in the morning? Roy was never a morning person, the only things mornings were good for were breakfast and sleep in his opinion. Riza though, being the active, early riser she is, had woken up at the crack of dawn in order to pack a picnic lunch, fix a quick breakfast, and get ready to head to the beach. Why the hell had Roy agreed to this hike to the beach anyways?

"Come on Roy, I want to try swimming in the new bikini I bought for this trip," Riza said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along faster. Oh yeah, that's why. The hike was a mile long, on a twisty path through the forest. Most of the trees there weren't too tall, so they were bathed in the warm sunshine.

Once they had finally gotten to the beach, after two nettle stings, three breaks, and a run in with a rather large and unfriendly python, Roy immediately sat down on the soft sand. "I really thought it was going to choke me to death," he sighed.

"Oh come on, pythons aren't that bad," Riza replied, "soon as we pried it off of your neck, it slithered off."

"Whatever, lets go find some shade to lay down the blanket and lunch in," Roy replied, getting up. Roy and Riza walked further along the beach, stopping under a large pine tree. "Do you go to the beach a lot?"

"Me? No," Riza replied, opening the pack where she put their lunch, "But I love it at the beach. Work just keeps me too busy to come often, you know how it is." Roy smiled as he took his bento box and began to eat.

"So Riza, where's this bikini I've heard so much about?" Roy asked, taking a bite of a California role, though they don't even have a place called California in FMA land I think, so that's kind of odd. Riza smiled, pulling off her sweatshirt and pants, revealing a bright blue bikini. The hike had been worth it. Well worth it.

"Lets go swimming Roy," Riza said, after finishing the last of her sushi, "You have your swimming suit with you right?" Roy nodded; he was wearing his trunks already so he simply had to pull off his tee shirt. "Race you there!"

"Wait, that's no fair!" Roy yelled, jumping up as Riza sprinted out to the ocean. Roy ran flat out after Riza, until they reached the end of dock. Riza abruptly stopped, sticking her foot out just as Roy came running. "Oh shit!" he yelled, falling face first into the water. He floated back up, sputtering. "Riza, what the," he started, before Riza jumped off the dock in a cannon ball. Roy came up to the surface, spitting out water once again, as Riza floated up beside him.

"That's for making me beg," she smirked, splashing him with water and swimming away quickly.

"Oh, you're asking for it," Roy replied, chasing her through the water. They both dived underwater, as Roy continued to seek revenge. But then suddenly, Riza grabbed her left arm, breathing out all the air she had and taking in a mouthful of water. Roy swam up, pulling her to the surface. "Riza, Riza are you alright?" he asked in a panic. Her eyes popped open and looked up at him, before she sprayed all the water she had in her mouth at his face. She slipped out of his grasp, laughing as she splashed him more and swam off. Oh, she would get hers.

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Riza swam through the water, darting after a school of fish. She was almost in reach of them, and then they would dart off yet again. Kind of like Roy's chase after her. He had given up in favor of laying down in the shade a while ago, and she hadn't seen him since.

Riza swam out farther down along the beach, when she came to a maze of coral. It was all vibrant colors, sticking out of the sand, and teeming with life. Crayfish and lobster swam among the ocean floor between the coral, while brightly colored fish of all different shapes and sizes. She gasped in amazement as an eel slid out of the sand and snapped up a smaller fish. You could almost lose yourself in the coral, Riza mused, swimming through it. It was great for things to hide in, like hermit crabs, eels, or people.

Roy had been following Riza for a little while now, waiting for her to stop swimming and let down her guard, but damn she was fast! But here, she took time to look at everything; the sights really were breath taking. It was perfect. Roy swam behind her, hiding behind the plants and sea life, waiting for his chance.

Riza slid on a rock, sending sand through all of the water. Fish swam everywhere, their colors were amazing, like a living rainbow circling around her. Riza stared in disbelief; she wished she could stay here forever. She felt her backbone shiver with excitement, as she the murky water cleared and she swam after the groups of fish.

Wait, why did she feel a bit weird all of the sudden? She'd been too busy looking at all the fish to pay attention to anything else… then it hit her.

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"Roy, have you seen my bikini top?" Riza asked, walking up to him, hugging her bosoms close to her chest.

"Hmm? No, I've been taking a nap like I said earlier," Roy replied, looking up from lying on the blanket. Well, she hadn't seen him around, maybe one of the coral branches had rubbed it off.

Riza wandered off to search the coral, as Roy quickly hid her bikini top in some bushes. Revenge was sweet. And in this case, sexy! God, it was great, Roy got not only to get back at Riza, but to see her walk around topless all day! It was every man's dream.

Riza gave up looking for her bikini top after a while; she had a feeling Roy took it, even though she hadn't seen him. She instead, tired of swimming, lay down to sunbath. But not of course, before inviting Roy to lay beside her in the shade for company. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve. "Roy, here looks good," Riza said, calling him over. Roy followed her and they both lay down on the sand to watch the ocean waves rolling in and out smoothly.

Riza waited with bated breath as Roy lay down, relaxing in the shade of an oak tree. She acted natural, turning over every fifteen minutes or so, until finally he fell asleep. Riza waited a few minutes, until she could hear him softly snoring. She got up, and started her work.

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Roy stirred from his sleep, how long had he been out of it? He looked around; Riza was nowhere in sight. Probably swimming again, Roy decided. He tried to get up. He couldn't move. Roy looked up; he was buried in several feet of sand from neck to foot. Something wet was at his feet. Crap. The tide was coming in. "Riza," he said loudly, "This isn't funny. Please, just get me out of here before the tide comes in, I'll give you back your top!"

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"That's what you get for stealing my top," Riza laughed as they walked back in the moonlight. The moon was full that night, bathing everything in its soft white light.

"Hey, I gave it back in the end," Roy smirked, what a great day. They walked back, looking at the moon in awe.

"I still have sand in my shoes," Riza laughed as they walked into the cabin. "Roy, lets sleep outside tonight!" she said suddenly.

"What?"

"Lets sleep outside tonight, the moon's full and it's so warm out, we could just lay down some blankets," Riza said excitedly.

"That's the craziest idea I've heard all day. Sounds fun," Roy smiled, walking into the bedroom and gathering blankets. Riza should have her fun; after all this was the last night they would spend there. They worked together to drag the blankets outside and lay down, it was really quite amazing. Riza was wearing a new pair of her fancy panties and a matching bra, these both red with black lace.

"Hey Roy," Riza whispered, as they stared up into the sky.

"What is it?"

"I have a surprise for you," Riza smiled, before revealing a can of whipping cream.

"Riza, I love you."

A/n: Had to stop there, I'm dead tired. That's the thing about honeymoons; there's sex everywhere. I'll update much sooner this time, at least 5 reviews please!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Well, here's the third chapter, I'm going to have some fun with the first part, poor Hughes, hah! Also, I pulled a muscle in my back, so I was unable to go to kendo today, it was very sad. At least five reviews for the next chapter, sorry, no whipping cream in detail this chapter. You people got your lemon scene, now shoo! But, without further ado, here's the new chapter.

Disclaimer: Alas, I still do not own it.

Riza unpacked her luggage, there was sand and whipping cream everywhere. They would have stayed longer, but work started the next day, so since they had their wedding so late in break, their honeymoon was cut short. But Roy, seeing how much Riza had enjoyed it, had decided that they'd stay for a week, and then take a week off to go back. It would be putting off a lot of work, but Roy was a master at that, so Riza had agreed. Roy of course, planned on simply telling Havoc and Hughes to do it for him, that's what he always did.

The phone rang. "Hello?" Riza said, picking up.

"Riza, is that you?"

"Gracia! We just got back, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm great, how was the honeymoon?"

"Great, we went to the beach, god it was nice. I got a tan."

"Wow, sounds like your sexier than ever, what's Roy think of it?"

"What do you think? Anyhow, I've got to go, I'll stop by in a few days after shopping okay?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you then!" Riza hung up the phone to finish unpacking.

"I can't wait to go back, seems like we were there for barely any time at all," Riza said, as Roy drug his luggage into the room.

"Yeah, oh well, three days until we go back," Roy replied. Riza had in fact, gotten a tan while there, Roy loved it. "You still have anymore of that whipping cream?"

"No, we used it all last night," Riza smiled. Roy sighed. "I'll get some more next time I go shopping if you want, I'm going out tomorrow."

"Sure," Roy replied, his disposition brightening suddenly, "Stock up for when we go again." Riza snickered, Roy had said it wasn't anything too special to him, but she had a feeling he wanted to go back just as badly as she did.

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"I'm going for a walk okay? I'll get the groceries while I'm out, I need some fresh air," She said the next morning, opening the door to leave, "And I'll get you your whipping cream, but you owe me." Roy smirked, kissing her before she left. "I'll collect on the rest when I get back," she whispered seductively.

"Don't you go cheating on me while you're out."

"These lips are sealed until they get kissed by yours."

And that's how she got where she was, cradling grocery bags in her arms and walking back home. She was fully able to use her left arm now, but it was still weak, and would give out on her with too much stress. But, she was regaining her strength, and getting better every day. It was still winter, so it was cloudy out, it had been so nice to have such good weather at the beach. Riza sighed, but they would be going there again day after tomorrow. She couldn't wait!

It started to rain, as though the sky itself were crying.

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Roy went to work that day; he'd said he'd go back to work, but only to check on how they were holding up on his work. Whipping… cream… such glorious uses he'd never thought of before… Roy drooled on his desk, staring into space.

"Roy, is Riza coming today?" Havoc asked nonchalantly, snapping Roy out of his fantasies.

"She said might be too busy, she went shopping and off to visit Gracia," Roy replied, it was already six.

"Roy, look at my new picture of Elisia, isn't she adorable in her new little dress? She love wearing it, don't you wish you had such a cute daughter?" Hughes said, shoving a photo in Roy's face. But Roy had prepared a counter attack. Whipping out a picture of Riza, tan, oily, and barely covering her nipples in the search for her bathing suit top, he shoved it in Hughes's face.

"Maes, look at my new picture of Riza, isn't she hot in her new tan? In this picture, she's looking for the top of her bikini, she loves wearing it, but I hid it from her, don't you wish you had such a sexy wife?" Roy said, mimicking the delighted smile Hughes got whenever he showed off pictures.

"Wait, without a top on? Let me see," Havoc said, leaning over to look, "…can you make me a copy of that picture?"

Hughes puffed out his cheeks and moped as Roy showed off his sexy picture. "My wife's very sexy for your information Roy," Hughes replied after a moment.

"Oh, but has she ever used whipped cream?" Roy smirked.

"Used it for what, pie?" Hughes questioned. Roy leaned over to whisper in Hughes's ear. The room was silent for the next five minutes as Roy continued and Maes look of astonishment grew larger and larger. "You can do that?"

"Yeah, I never knew until last night," Roy replied, "But anyhow, we're going back day after tomorrow for a week, so finish up my work for me will you?" He said, throwing on his coat and walking out the door.

"Whipping cream?" Havoc asked in confusion as the door slammed shut.

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Roy pulled off his coat, Riza wasn't home yet. It was getting late, so he called Gracia. "Gracia, have you seen Riza?"

"Riza? Oh yes, she just left my house about a couple hours ago. So, how'd you like the whipping cream?"

"You haven't heard of her since though?"

"No, isn't she back yet?"

"No, I haven't seen her since this morning."

"Well, keep an eye out for her, I'm sure she's fine, she can take care of herself. She said she was going off to get some more chocolate and whipping cream."

"okay, thanks. Well, I'll see you later."

"Bye bye Roy."

Roy hung up the phone, somewhat reassured. He sat down to read, glancing at the clock every so often. It was dark out, still raining, at nine o' clock, and still no word. Until the phone rang. Roy picked up the phone, who was calling? "Is this Roy Mustang?" came a deep voice from the phone.

"Yes, this is Colonel Roy Mustang, what's going on?"

"We need you to come check a body in a murder for us."

"I'll be there in a minute," Roy replied, taking down in his memory where it was, not too far from here actually.

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Roy walked up, the outline had already been chalked, and a body bag lay on the ground. "You're Colonel Mustang right?" a man Roy recognized from investigations asked.

"Yes, have any evidence?" He asked, he was always called out on murder cases.

"No, but we need you to confirm the victim for us," the man replied, pulling down the zipper on the body bag. "Is this, as we suspect, Riza Mustang?" Her tan skin was slightly transparent, and her eyes were closed lightly, as though asleep. Her lips were a light blue color, and she lay, unmoving. Roy didn't breath, he couldn't breath or think or move, as his blood ran cold.

"Yes, that's Riza."

It rained that night, as though the sky itself were crying.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N I was lying, Riza isn't dead. Is that what you want to hear? Because I'm not going to say it. She is dead, and if I took that out, the entire plot of the story would be ruined. I told you the sequel would be sad, I told you if you couldn't take tons of tragic stuff, tell me so and I won't do it, but you asked me to anyways. And this is what I get after hours of daydreaming up this story during geography class, after all of my efforts, after writing up all of this? Well, anyhow, here's the next chapter, I still hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, deal with it.

The funeral took place in the military cemetery, where all soldiers were buried, except for the occasional special case. It was a cloudy day that day, all of the days around then had been cloudy seeing as it was still deep in the winter months. It was a hard thing to accept for everyone, but harder for some than for others. It's a difficult thing to lose a wife so early on.

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"Mustang, how's things?" Ed asked quietly one day. He sat down on one of the steps leading up to the central HQ next to Roy.

"…Couldn't be worse." Roy replied, changing the commonly used phrase to suit his misery better. He had the dull, drone in his voice of a broken man.

"Come on, don't be like that," Ed replied, trying desperately to think of something cheerful to say, "well, at least you aren't dead too." Wow. That was one of the worst, most ass hole things he could have said. But at least it was true.

"Like that makes me feel any better," Roy held his face in his hands and looked down at the step he was sitting on, "what point is a meaningless life?"

"Hey, your life has meaning," Ed went on, flashing as big a grin as he could manage without puking, "What about becoming President Fuhrer? You know, making all the girls in the military wear miniskirts?"

"I always wanted to see Hawkeye in a miniskirt," Roy frowned, "she told me she'd wear one to work in her uniform for our first anniversary." Ed sighed, that plan backfired horribly.

"Roy, just come inside, you still have work to do and it's too cold out for you to sit here," Ed finally said, trudging back up the steps. Roy hadn't once called him short since the day of Riza's death, just a few weeks ago. Seeing this, Havoc took it upon his shoulders to commence in the name calling, but Roy had simply told him to stop. He was seriously out of it, staring at the sky, sitting around all day doing nothing; Roy was in a bad way.

"It's your turn for cheer up squad tomorrow," Ed muttered loathingly to Hughes as he passed him by on the way to the office. Both of them, along with Havoc, took turns trying to help out Roy, and a schedule was developed by Hughes for this purpose. Ed griped about it lots, but he stuck to it and helped Roy up when it was his turn. It was more out of simple respect than anything he supposed, Roy really had been through a lot in his lifetime. But really, the whole incident reminded Ed a bit of himself.

"You got him until then though right? How is he?" Hughes asked.

"Depressed as ever, what do you think?" Ed replied solemnly. Two day shifts were not as long as they felt, but they had been discussing week long shifts earlier so Ed decided he got off easy. Even when it wasn't his turn, when he had time Hughes would always stop to talk to Roy, guess that's what friends are for.

Roy slowly stepped up, and walked back to the office.

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Ed stayed up later than usual that night doing work, the papers had almost doubled that day. Everyone else had left at some time or another, so he was alone as he scribbled down his name on the last piece of paper, sighing in relief at finishing his work at last.

Gathering his papers nonchalantly, Ed got up, and walked out the door. The hallways were empty for the most part too, how late had he been working? Ed handed in his work, then began walking back to his room. He was almost there, god he was tired. He closed his eyes, imagining his bed, so soft, so warm, so heavenly… until his eyes were jerked open, as he stumbled over someone's boot. Ed caught himself as he fell, swearing as he stood back up. "What the hell, who do you-Roy?" he stared in disbelief,

Roy was propped up against the wall, his legs slowly sliding out from under him. He looked up slightly at the sound of his name, muttering a simple "Wha?"

"Roy, what are you doing here?" Ed asked, pulling him away from the wall to come walk with him. Technically, it was still his turn he supposed.

"I don't really know, last thing I knew, I was calling a cab, and then I just kind of came here," He stated, his words were a bit slurred. His step also had a definite wobble to it, god he smelled like shit.

"Roy, you're drunk aren't you?" Ed asked trying to help him steady his step.

"You know, I think I am," he rambled, as Ed pulled him along the hall.

"Do you know what'll happen to you if the superiors saw you like this? Even not on duty? Roy, here, come in my room and I'll call Hughes ok?" Ed said, he couldn't let anyone see Roy like this. Steering him into his dorm room, Ed closed his door and locked it. Ushering Roy to sit down in a chair, Ed took down the phone, dialing Hughes's number.

"Hello? Is Hughes there?"

"Edward? Yes, do you need to talk to him?"

"Oh, Gracia, yeah, it's about Roy, please be quick."

"Alright, here he is …Hey Ed, what is it?"

"Maes, you need to get over here now, it's Roy."

"What's he done?"

"He's filthy drunk, that's what. I don't know what to do with him, he- oh god Roy, no, not on the floor! Go to the toilet, holy crap, it stinks! Maes, get over here now!" Ed pulled Roy by the shoulder over into his bathroom and lifted up the lid on the toilet seat for him to puke. "Why do I do this?" Ed asked himself sadly, patting Roy on the back as he retched.

Hughes came about ten minutes later, knocking on the door loudly. Ed left Roy in the bathroom to get the door, letting Maes in thankfully. "He's in the bathroom, looked pretty pale last I saw him," Ed said to him, "Puked his guts out, he's totally and utterly drunk in all meanings of the word." They opened the bathroom door, and walked in, to see that Roy had passed out on the floor.

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"Head hurts," Roy mumbled, he'd had his fair share of hangovers but god, he hadn't had one this bad in a while. His mouth felt hot and pasty, he couldn't remember anything. He was in a bed, but it wasn't his. Slowly, he lifted his protesting eyelids and looked around, he was in a dorm room, and it was dark, night probably. "Hello?" He mumbled, he couldn't focus.

"So, you're finally awake," came a voice, and a light switch flicked on. Hughes smiled back at Roy from a chair next to the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like crap, god, what did I do last night?" Roy asked, massaging his temples and sitting up.

"You went out drinking, then Ed found you and brought you back to his dorm room, you've been out of it all day since," Hughes stated simply, "It's about 2:15 in the morning."

"Whose bed is this?"

"Ed's, but be quiet, he's still asleep I think."

"Where?" Roy asked, his vision focusing. Hughes pointed to a small bundled up person on the floor near the door. Ed was sleeping under his red coat.

"Roy, you can't do this to yourself, what if someone saw you stumbling around drunk?" Hughes asked, stepping on a slightly more serious note. Roy shrugged. "You're lucky Ed was there, I haven't seen you like this since Ishbal."

"Ishbal huh? I remember that," Roy replied, "I remember it well."

"Roy, just get some sleep now, we can do all of this in the morning all right? I don't know about you but I'm dead tired," Hughes yawned, turning off the light.

A/N Rather long chapter no? Anyhow, sorry about the first authors note, but I was kind of pissed off at the reaction I got for the last chapter from many people. But I have good news, I just got lots of peppermint ice cream, I love it. Also, lastly, Voldie, your persistence and devotion amaze me as always, please don't kill yourself ArisaWeasley, and the rest of you people, please don't kill me. If you kill me, how could I type more? So please, no more threats. I am the authoress, and my word is law in my fanfics. For example: Riza is now alive and wearing a tiny miniskirt as her uniform.

Riza: What the fuck? I was just dead, why the hell am I wearing this?

Roy: Yay! Sexy! I'm not depressed anymore!

Ayumu: Yes you are. Why? Because I say so. Look, as I once again work my magic!

Riza: -falls over dead, and miniskirt transforms into baggy, shapeless pants-

Roy: NOOO! –Cries-

Ayumu: Yes, dance my puppets, dance! Bwahahahaha! Any who, the point of this was to show that I'm sticking with the story I've written up. No magically alive Riza, no miniskirts, and no… uh… potato. Well, I have nothing else to say on the subject; please just don't be hating me. On a much happier note though, the Sea Hawks finally made it to the Superbowl! I've got money riding on this game so they'd better win… read and review, five reviews at least for next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Hello, it's me again. This chapter's a little short, I tried not to give too much away with it, but I think I did, oh well… it's the thought that counts!

_Riza looked around, she was in a valley of flowers, a bit like a scene in a romance novel she'd once read. She looked closer, there was no one there, but she didn't quite feel alone. The surroundings were like watercolor, some of them blending with each other, in a beautiful, frightening way. Riza walked forward, it was better than doing nothing. "Roy, are_

_IIIIIIIIIIIII_

"Lust, I can't believe I have to do this, it's got to be the most fucking boring job I've ever had to," Envy started, his voice losing caution as it grew louder in his fevered anger. But who could blame him, spending days on end laying down, freezing half to death and doing absolutely nothing can drive a man pretty far.

"Envy, calm down, the examination's in another day alright?" Lust replied, helping Envy sit up, "Dante wasn't pleased with what you did to that Hawkeye woman, now Mustang's more aware of our presence than ever. But Riza has been taken care of, as you very well know." Lust's look softened as she smiled, holding up her right hand, one finger pointed towards the sky. "One more day can't be that hard."

"I don't care if Dante's pissed, you don't know what it's like! You don't have to sit in a fucking freezer all day long, nothing to do, and, hey!" He yelled, as Lust smiled and pushed the compartment back into the wall, forcing him back into a laying position. It was his own fault after all, and there were other things that needed attending to. Lust slid out the window she'd come in through back into the night.

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"Roy, don't you remember the last time?" Hughes asked, pushing up his glasses. Roy finished swallowing the painkillers, and gulped down the last of the glass of water. Hangovers, hurt like hell, but, with getting drunk, it's all pretty much equivalency.

"That's better," Roy mumbled, rubbing his forehead, "Yes, I remember. It was after Ishbal, and I was getting drunk every night, just like I am now, because there is nothing else I can do." Roy set the glass down, pulling off the blankets and slowly standing up, the medicine hadn't fully kicked in yet.

"You need to think over some things, like mistakes you made in the past," Hughes said sharply, getting up as well, "Take the day off to think Roy, there are some things you still need to come to terms with." Hughes walked out the door to Ed's dorm room, shutting it quietly behind him.

Roy sat back down. So Maes thought he needed time to think eh? Well, he never said no to time off of work. He'd almost forgotten the feeling of loss, of utter resentment and horror he'd had after Ishbal, so this was a nice reminder. Ishbal, he'd been drunk, and not just a little back then. He was hardcore; passing out back then from alcohol overdose was almost a daily ritual. It was, after all, the only way he could manage to sleep at night. But then he'd stopped, in thoughts of something more important, what had it been? Roy suddenly got up; he needed to check his room. They could still be there.

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"How's Envy?" Sloth asked calmly. Showing emotion wasn't something she often did, especially for another's loss.

"He's complained up a storm, but he'll be okay for another day," Lust replied, leaning up against the wall. "I swear, Dante and her insane experiments. This is crazy, she won't let Envy know what's going on either, probably just another way to punish him. You took care of Mustang, right?"

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Roy walked out the door; he'd have to remember to thank Ed later. As he went on, he found walking in the fresh air was getting easier and easier until he regained his usual, brisk stride. It was easier than driving, and he didn't really want to have to talk to anyone else right now. Unlocking the door, Roy walked in, trotting pointedly up the stairs. He headed towards his room, opening the door and walking in. He headed to the back, and began to look through a bookcase of military records, alchemic books, and his own personal notes on both these subjects.

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"Yes, they should be in plain enough sight, with an added tidbit here and there," Sloth replied plainly. "The taboo is ever so hard to let go of once you believe in it."

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Roy tore the books off the shelf now, finally finding the one he wanted, a small, handwritten booklet of his research. It was all here. Roy flipped through it, the drawings, the notes, the ingredients; they were all there, waiting to be used. Hughes couldn't help him this time, no one could. He would pay a price, for such is the nature of a taboo, but for now, that made no difference. There was always the chance, the crazy chance that it could work.

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"I would have preferred Envy going to see him and give a bit of a nudge in the right direction, but we both know he's busy," Lust sighed, "Dante will forgive him though, if this all falls into place. I know he gets bored, but he could at least not rape military personnel, or at least kill them afterwards, it's just another way he's taking orders into his own hands and twisting them to his liking." Sloth stood silently.

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Roy reread everything, he couldn't even remember writing some of it, and it wasn't foolproof, but it all fit together. It all worked out. Because Riza, because he loved her, and because life without her meant every day was painful. That every day was another 24 hours to regret and to mourn.

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Envy pursed his lips, Lust was all right, but she could be a bitch sometimes. There wasn't even any room to stretch his arms for god's sake. Really, he was getting so bored, he had to add some real excitement to the mission, how could Dante blame him for that? She could have at least told him what they're doing now…

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In a unanimous movement, Lust and Sloth both looked up as they heard movement in the other room. "I'll take care of it," Sloth said patiently, opening a drawer in an oak dresser in the corner of the room. She took out a bottle, puncturing the top of it with a slim needle and drawing out a selected amount of the clear, light blue fluid. She walked to the door in the corner, opening and slipping inside silently.

A/N 5 reviews at least, I'll let you make up your own minds on what's going on. Don't worry though, it'll be explained more in later chapters. Also, while typing this, I was listening to Passacalgia. Anyone know the soundtrack it's from? It's tough, so if you get it right you get a cookie!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N You get a quick update due to me getting my requested reviews, lack of school this week, and my bout of writers block. Hopefully typing this up will get rid of it, I can only pray. I really am desperatly trying to keep it moving without giving too much away, lets see how this all works out. Well, here you are.

_You there?" Riza called out into the empty space. "Roy, Roy I'm scared, where are you?" She walked faster, and then started running through the flowers in a panic, there was no one there. Riza suddenly stopped, her head hurt. She saw the light and scenery flickering, like an old lamp, but a moment later returned. "Where am I? Why can't I_

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"Ed, are you coming with to the burial today?" Hughes asked. Roy hadn't been in to work since he'd passed out in Ed's room, but Hughes had almost expected that.

"What? I thought the funeral already passed?" Ed asked, he'd missed the funeral he remembered, he'd been off on another goose chase after the stone.

"The funeral, yes, but the burial of the body, no. She was last in a long line of murder cases, so she's still in the morgue, to see cause of death. But they're giving over the body today to be buried, just the office personnel is coming mostly, it's nothing fancy," Hughes replied.

"After Mustang puked in my room, and stole my bed?" Ed asked coldly, "You expect me to do him a favor?"

"Come on Ed, now you're just being cruel."

"Fine, fine. When and where?" Ed sighed. Hughes smiled, Ed really was sympathetic, he just hated to admit it.

"About six, we're taking a military car so I'll just come by to pick you up."

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"Sloth, how are they?" Lust asked as Sloth came back into the room.

"They're getting too weak, we need something stronger," she replied, "I'll go ask Dante tonight. Speaking of which, if I do that you'll need to get Envy back on your own, is that okay with you?"

"Fine, but tell me, why am I always the one stuck listening to him complain?" Lust smiled, "With Envy back we can have him go check on Mustang's progress. I don't think this will work, Dante's been meddling in bad stuff for years, but no one can know what'll happen when Roy tries to bring her back."

"Why should it turn out any different than usual?" Sloth asked, "Though I agree, using the Flame Colonel of all people for this, Dante needs to think about the consequences it could have. Especially if it works, what'll happen when she sees?"

"I'm going to go wait for the burial, while you're at Dante's be sure to ask her if she's gone insane," Lust said, walking to the door and opening it, "Experimenting can only go so far before becoming madness."

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Havoc hammered on the door, waiting until Roy finally came. It was absolutely astounding how well he could clean up, his hair combed back, and his dress uniform on. He stepped out, getting into the car with everyone else. Fury, Havoc, Breda, Hughes, and Ed sat waiting for him as he came in, and they drove to the cemetery. It was silent in the car, only the occasional throbbing of the motor interrupted the quiet.

When they got out, all walking through the maze of tombstones, they came to the casket. It was propped open; Riza's dulled eyes were half open, but clearly fogged over. Her skin was a ghastly pale, her lips a striking light blue color. They all took turns going up to look into her face and say their goodbyes, Roy being last. He stared into her once tanned, unmarred skin, which now more resembled wet paper, and her limp, golden blonde hair. It always had looked better unclipped. Then, holding his hat over his heart, he stepped back quietly, and the casket was closed. They lowered it into the grave, and then began to shovel dirt over it unceremoniously.

They returned to the Central HQ, not a single word said. After all, one can only mourn for so long before finding a better use for their time, and Roy had found his.

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Darkness engulfed the cemetery as Lust walked through it. Zigzagging through the graves, she came to one labeled 'Riza Hawkeye,' and stopped. Then she brought out a shovel and began to dig.

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"Ed, come here for a second," Hughes said after work that day.

"Hughes, what is it?" Ed asked, "It's not my turn for cheer up squad again already is it?"

"No, you get a few more days of freedom, it's Havoc's turn right now. Ed, did you notice anything, anything different about the corpse?" Hughes asked.

"No, it was corpsy and dead," Ed frowned, "Not a very pretty sight. Roy took it really harsh."

"I just thought of something Ed," Hughes got up, "I'll tell you later when I find out, it's just a hunch, but you never know. I need to check on something." Hughes left quickly, closing the door behind him. Ed stood awkwardly for a moment longer, before shrugging and leaving to his dorm room. Alphonse would be waiting for him.

_IIIIIIIIIIIIII_

_Leave? I can't even find anyone," Riza said, fear pulling at her heart. No Roy, no Hughes, no Ed, no one but her was there. Riza ran through the field, it all started looking the same after a while, as though repeating like in old movies. Riza felt a presence, someone else was here, but she couldn't see them or find them no matter how hard she tried. Her head began to feel dull and fuzzy, _

_IIIIIIIIIIIIII_

"Roy, how are you?" Hughes's familiar voice flowed through the receiver in Roy's hand.

"I've been worse," Roy commented, his hands white with chalk as he finished, "I'm not falling over drunk this time."

"That's a relief," Hughes replied, "Why don't we go out tonight, have some guy time?"

"No, I'm a bit busy, office work you know," Roy replied, checking the array in a small handwritten booklet, "I think her finally being buried helped." Carbon, sodium, it was all there.

"Alright, you sure you're really that busy? Hawkeye's habits must have really worn off on you when she was still here," Hughes sighed, "I'll be seeing you tomorrow then. Good night Roy, and take care of yourself."

"Goodnight Hughes."

Hughes hung up the payphone, a flash of light traversing up and down his body as he morphed into the toned, somewhat feminine shape of Envy. "Sounds like he's doing it right now."

"How do you know?" Lust questioned, glancing at the moon. It was full, how terribly cliché fora taboo.

"Mustang, not drunk, doing work after it's ended. Tell me, how can that not reek of cover up story?"

A/N Oh the many lovely mysteries, I can't put it off much longer, so I must say, some answers will in fact be brought to light next chapter. So review my darlings, review like you've never reviewed before and I will both update and love you. I love all of my reviewers, and you guys who only read and don't review, I will throw potatoes at you. Also, I really have no idea what to make Roy lose for trying human alchemy, any ideas? At least five reviews for next chapter, as always, and if we make it over 55 I'll make an extra long chapter for you all in celebration! Goodnight all you people.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Sorry for taking so long to update, but this chapter is really good so you must forgive me. Also, Scarface, please don't shoot me! Though I must admit that threat got me writing. Nonetheless, lots of stuff happens in this chapter, and in the end, a secret is revealed that I've been keeping from you all for a long time. Ok. Well, without further ado, here you go!

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. I merely fantasize about it 24/7…

Roy stared at the pile of raw materials, centered in an intricate alchemy circle. It was all there, it made book sense, but it didn't count in the energy needed to then attach the soul. Roy had come prepared for that. He took out a small ring from his pocket, a red jewel placed perhaps not beautifully, but firmly in the center. The incomplete philosopher's stone he'd used in the war, it was unstable, but it was the best he could think of. It still had a good amount of energy left in it, it should be good enough. Roy slid it on his index finger gingerly; it's blood red substance gleaming in the lamplight.

Roy knew if he didn't do it now, he wouldn't be able to. And so he came to his knees on the floor, and placed his hands on the circle. Golden rays of light engulfed the room as Roy looked up, so far so good. But in an instant, the light darkened, a sickening purple glow emanating from the circle. The philosopher's stone glowed brightly, before finally cracking under the pressure. Not good. Roy watched fearfully as a window in the room began to crack, shattering and sending splinters of glass flying everywhere, the lights were the next to go.

Roy felt blackness consume his vision, falling face forward onto the ground. When he came too, he knew something was different. It was white, everything was, as though an unfinished drawing. And in the center of the nothingness that consumed everything in sight, there stood an enormous doorway, opening and letting him see what many call the truth. The facts of alchemy.

Then he saw them. The homunculi, black bodies standing in the darkness, watching him avidly, wrapping their tiny hands around him. Their eyes gleamed malevolently, as they exacted equivalency, taking the remainders of the ring and the fake philosopher's stone.

And as Roy felt what they took leave him, he knew what he'd done, and he felt blackness once again consume him as the gateway swung closed, the eyes disappearing behind it once again.

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"Ed, I need you to get over here and take a look at these pictures," Hughes said over the phone. Ed yawned, pulling on his coat.

"What is it now Hughes?" he replied dismissively, it was some time past midnight.

"Riza, it's weird, just get over here," Hughes said hurriedly, "I'm in Roy's office." Click. Ed hung up the phone after Hughes, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he left his room.

"What the hell is it that can't wait until the morning?" Ed muttered exasperatedly to himself, clicking open his pocket watch to check the time. One o' clock, right on the dot. Ed found the office, walking in with an already prepared rant on how early it was, and how Hughes could have waited until morning, but stopped as he saw the expression on his face. Hughes gestured for Ed to come over to the table where he had several files laid out in front of him. "Hughes, what is it?" Ed asked, sitting down next to him.

"Ed, over there are the pictures taken of Riza when she was first found dead in the rain, then in the middle are pictures of her while they searched for cause of death, and on the far left are ones taken of her at the funeral. Look closely at them all and tell me what you see," Hughes replied, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Ed looked them over, "I don't see anything." Then he paused, looking back over them. "The eyes, they're different…"

"Yeah, I noticed that too. To examine her they didn't touch her face at all, so how can that be?" Hughes asked. In the first pictures, her eyes were closed lightly, as though asleep. And from then on, they went from being entirely open in a blank, mindless stare into nothingness to being closed tightly enough for small wrinkles to form. In pictures taken in darkness, the pupils were dilated, and in bright light the irises showed up small as ever, like tiny black beads. "So, what do you think? How can something dead react to darkness and light?" Hughes said coldly, pilling the pictures back into their respective folders. Ed frowned.

"What now?" he asked after a moment.

"Hmm, see, that's where you come in. I can't think of what to do, we could call up Roy," Hughes said, "But he's had t rough enough lately."

"Well then, we're left with only one choice," Ed replied, getting up suddenly. "Time to go pay Riza a visit."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Roy woke up, covered in a cold sweat. He got up, trying to remember what had happened. The gateway, the alchemy, it all came rushing back in a flash, as the memories hit him like a brick. Roy saw something as the smoke cleared. "Riza?" He asked uncertainly, seeing it move. Then he fell back in horror. It was not human to say the least. A pile of flesh and organs pulsed as a heart buried somewhere deep within it beat. Skin covered most of it, showing the occasional bit of raw muscle and veins. It had no face, and few recognizable limbs, all in the wrong places. It was horrifying.

Roy watched as it began to bleed though it continued pulsing rhythmically. It's abnormal body unable to keep its shape, or live for very long. And he felt the gateway in his mind once again, and knew what he had to do.

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"Where's Envy, I thought you were bringing him back with you," Sloth questioned, as Lust reentered the flat late that night.

"He's watching Mustang, I told him to come back once it's over so that gives us an hour or two I'd say," Lust replied, "I figure that'll be enough time to think up a way to tell him what we did to his room without his killing us again. Such a temper."

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Ed shoveled up the last bit of dirt in the grave, prying open the door of the casket with relative ease. The two men gasped at what they saw, horror struck at the sight that awaited them. It was empty. "Not good."

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Roy cradled the stump where his left hand had been. Guess the stone on his finger hadn't been enough for them. "Ed," He smiled to himself, gritting his teeth in pain as he ripped his shirt into strips to try and stem the flow of blood, "I hope this automail mechanic of yours is as good as you say she is."

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"Sloth, I'll take care of Envy and everything tonight okay? You can go get some sleep, for going to see Dante for me," Lust said plainly, leaning against a couch in the room.

"Alright," Sloth smiled lightly, getting up to go to her room, "They're in the drawer, should be stronger, but if it's really getting less effective. We can't keep this up for long." Lust nodded, watching Sloth go into her room and close the door. Rusty bed springs squeaked as Sloth went to sleep.

"Ok, how about this, 'Envy, I know you're tired, but you can't go in your room, Dante's using it for an experiment'?" Lust said to herself, sighing. "That'll never work. Guess we'll just have to see how this all plays out I guess, but he'll be pissed off."

Lust stopped, hearing movement behind Envy's door. She got up, opening up a drawer and pulling out a bottle filled with a light, transparent liquid. "This stuff had better work better than the last, we really can only keep it like this for another day or two," Lust frowned, using a needle to draw out a selected amount, before putting the bottle back. She opened the door unceremoniously, walking into the darkness and turning on a light. "We can't have you waking up, now can we?" She asked, bending down next to the bed. Riza tossed about on it, sweating and crying out in her sleep. She struggled more than usual; the drugs really were having less affect. Riza's eyes opened up for the first time in the past few days, dilated from the sleep, but staring wildly about.

She cried out in fear, as Lust grabbed her arm and inserted the needle, pouring the green liquid into Riza's bloodstream. "Goodnight Riza," Lust said quietly, closing her eyes and laying her back down beneath the blankets as the drugs began to take effect. "Sweet dreams."

A/N Gasp. Extra long and awesome chapter since we got to 55 reviews, my next goal is 75. I've been working on my 'my space' account a lot lately, it's got me addicted to adding stuff to it… read and review, I'll update next week or the week after that. Yes, Roy must get automail, because everyone knows automail is super sexy. Yay!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Hello again! Well, it's two in the morning and I'm wide awake, so I think I'll type something up. Lets see how thisturns out!

Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will.

"He did it Lust, I've already told Dante," Envy muttered, walking in through the door. "God I'm tired, I'm going to sleep. Let me sleep in okay?"

"No, Envy, you can't," Lust replied, "Don't go into your room."

"Why the hell not, I just spent two fucking weeks in a morgue," Envy replied, slamming the door and glaring at Lust, "Why did I need to go in there and cover for that dead girl anyways? Did Dante want her body, or what?"

"It's a new experiment that we're using your room for," Lust replied as Envy sat down on the couch next to her, "And you know that Dante's told us to keep you in the dark from what's going on, so don't ask. You can sleep in my bed until we figure this out."

"Let me get this strait. After all I've been through, I'm still being punished?" Envy got up, his voice with a new edge of hatred and annoyance added in, "Oh hell no! I want to go in my room and go to sleep, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Wait," Lust said quickly, getting up to strop Envy as he wrenched open his door, "Envy, no!" Envy flicked on the light, stopping dead.

"There's a dead girl in my bed, Lust. A dead girl. In my bed. Okay, I don't care what Dante says, what the fuck is going on?" He yelled, staring at Riza's still form. Lust sighed, walking up beside Envy.

"She's alive, just asleep," Lust said plainly, "She's been drugged 24/7 since we first brought her here. Dante wanted to know what would happen to the homunculus if the person it were made to be were still alive. We have to feed her 5 times a day with broth and change her bedpans, which I suppose now falls to you."

"Ok. So she's been asleep in my bed this entire time," Envy replied, "And you were going to tell me that this bitch was still alive when? You know what? I'm too tired for this shit; I'm not dealing with any of it until morning. Night, guess I'll take you up on your offer." Envy opened Lust's door with unnecessary strength, cracking it down the middle as he slammed it shut and lay down on Lust's bed.

"I think that went pretty well," Lust sighed, turning out the lights and laying down on the couch to go to sleep.

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"What the hell do we do now?" Ed asked Hughes, "Or have you not noticed that Riza's body is gone Hughes, GONE!"

"How the hell should I know? This could mean many things," Hughes replied, "We need to tell Roy."

"At three in the morning?" Ed replied, loading the dirt covered shovels into the trunk of the military car they'd taken.

"Why the hell not?" Hughes replied, "He's probably still up drinking anyways." Ed sighed, getting in after Hughes. "You up for it?"

"…Not really," Ed sighed, "But I'm guessing I don't have a choice."

"Bingo. Technically, your turn for cheer up duty started about three and a half hours ago."

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"Roy, open up!" Hughes yelled as Ed hammered on the door. Ed clapped his hands together, transmuting the lock open. They both ran in, dividing up the house. Ed ran up the stairs, opening the door to Roy's room. He took a few hurried steps in, before stepping back in horror as he saw something he'd hoped to never see again. The transmutation circle for an attempt at human alchemy.

Roy lay curled up on the floor, holding the bloody stump that used to be his hand. Ed stepped forward slowly in disbelief as what had happened sunk in. "Roy, what have you done?" he asked quietly.

Roy's eyes opened up at hearing the boy's voice, and he sat up slowly, pain throbbing throughout his body with every movement. "You should know Ed," Roy replied, forcing out his words, "I tried to bring her back."

Ed thought of one person in particular at this statement. His old teacher Izumi, he remembered what had happened to her. What she'd created. Ed grabbed Roy's collar, pulling him up. "What did you do with it? What did you do with the creature you created?" he asked in a panic, "Did you give it back to the gateway?"

"I don't know," Roy replied, "When I woke up again I was going to, but it was gone." Ed muttered something inaudible, somewhere along the lines of 'Dante…' as he thought of what had been created that night.

_"Dear God, what have you done?"_

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"Where's Envy?" Sloth asked the next morning as she took a sip of coffee.

"In my room asleep, he'll probably be out until about five," Lust replied, "He took it pretty well actually. Just broke a few doors, yelled, you know, the usual."

"Really? I thought he'd have gone after the stove again, he simply loves breaking things when he gets into his moods," Sloth replied, walking to the door, "I'm going to go see how things are with Dante, don't let Envy kill you too many times."

Lust gazed benignly out a window as Sloth went. "I try not to."

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"Winry, do you think we could come out there for some automail?" Ed asked.

"What? You need more? God Ed, how many arms have you broken so far this year? Hell, how many this month?" Winry asked exasperatedly, "Fine, just get down here by the end of the week alright? I'll get ready some parts, you're always breaking your arms…"

"Yeah," Ed replied, "Something like that. I'll see you then." He hung up the phone, walking back into Roy's room. Hughes sat by his bed, wiping the blood off of Roy's chest with a wet hand towel. They'd bandaged his arm with fresh cloths, but they were slowly being dyed red. "She said it'd be fine, what are we going to tell the military though?" Ed asked sitting down next to Hughes.

"We can't tell them the truth, and we can't hide the automail forever," Hughes replied, "We need to find an excuse, call up HQ Ed."

Ed nodded, going back to the phone and dialing the number of the military base. "Hello? This is Edward Elric calling for Roy Mustang," Ed said to the feminine voice that answered the phone. "He's had a bit of an accident…"

Ed listened to the reply, before muttering, "One minute please," and covering it. "They want to know what happened to him, what do I say?" Ed asked.

"I don't know, say he was hitting on a girl and her boyfriend came and beat the crap out of him for it," Hughes said, holding back a laugh.

Ed pulled the phone back up to his mouth, glaring at Hughes. "He's had his hand cut off," Ed said, "It was an attempted suicide since the loss of his wife, but he dropped the knife. We just found him; we'll bring him by to the doctor's right away. Alright, bye." Ed hung up the phone, looking up at Hughes in annoyance. "You know you're not helping."

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Sloth hung up the phone. "I never knew he was so good at improvisation," she smiled, getting up from her desk and walking down a hidden passageway to meet with her master. "So he's lost the hand eh? That's a new one."

A/N I'm hyped up on caffein, I think I'll go read a book for a while. By the way, has anyone here heard the song 'The Girl From Ipanema'? I'm addicted to it, it's quite good. Also, if you want to know my myspace account, email me okay? Well, five reviews at least please, peppermint ice cream makes me update faster as always, good night!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N why have I updated so quickly? Perhaps it was the ten buckets of ice cream given to me. And shoved down my throat. And yes, shoveling ice cream down my throat does help. Well, nothing else really to say, so here you are!

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Winry walked out of the train, thankfully breathing in the fresh air. She looked about, before noticing a military cab just outside the station. "I'll bet Ed sent it," she smiled to herself, walking over to it. A woman with short brown hair and a mole beneath her eye stepped out to greet Winry. "My name's Lt. Maria Ross, at your service Ms. Rockbell," she said, shaking Winry's hand and opening the door for her.

"Oh, please just call me Winry," Winry replied, sitting down as Ross loaded her luggage into the trunk and sat down next to her. "Where are we going?"

"To the military HQ hospital branch, didn't you know?" Maria asked, straitening her military uniform.

"He's in the hospital again?" Winry asked, and was answered by a curt nod. 'Every time I take my eyes off of that boy,' Winry thought exasperatedly to herself.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Winry, glad you're here," Ed said as he ran down the HQ steps to meet her.

"Ed," Winry said in confusion, "They said you were in the hospital again. And your automail looks fine, what's going on?"

"Long story," Ed replied, "But I do need some more of your handiwork. It's not for me though… you'll see." Ed guided Winry through the halls to the hospital branch of HQ.

Winry walked in after Ed nervously, following him to one of the beds in the back. "Here we are," Ed said, stopping at the bed, "Think you can do it in less than a week?" Winry stopped in shock when she saw Roy. His hand was missing, and his arm was heavily bandaged. Roy noticed the two, sitting up.

"Nice to see you again Winry," he said calmly, "Think you can give automail as good as Ed's?"

"You didn't tell me Roy lost his hand," Winry said, turning to Ed.

"Well, you see," Ed replied, "It never really came up in conversation, you know?" Winry glared at him a moment before turning back to Roy.

"Yeah, I can work with this," she said after staring at his arm a moment. "I'll need to take some new measurements, but to finish only a hand should take only a few days. Pinako isn't here to help me so it might take a little longer than usual, but it should be just as good." Roy smiled appreciatively, and Ed backed out.

"I'll leave you to your work, I've got to go check on Al," Ed said, turning and leaving as Winry unpacked her tools. His smile vanished as he walked back to his dorm room. "I'm back, Winry's taking care of him," Ed muttered, walking into his room and sitting down on the bed across from Al.

"Brother, did you tell him?" Alphonse asked hesitantly, looking at his older brother expectantly. Ed paused, sighing.

"No, not yet," he replied, "I don't know when I should…"

"But brother, if a homunculus was born from the transmutation," Alphonse pleaded, before Ed cut him off.

"If one was born, Roy will have to face it. A product of his sin, just as Sloth is ours. And if I can face a replica of mom, he can face one of Hawkeye," Ed said solemnly. "But she might not be dead, we can't tell him until we figure this all out. Maybe the homunculi took the body so that we couldn't seal the homunculus, that would makes sense. But I still don't think that's it. I've got to go back and talk it over with Hughes more." Alphonse nodded, as Ed lay down to maul over his thoughts.

"Brother, if she's still alive, then what would happen to the homunculus?" Alphonse said after a moment's thought.

Ed stared at his automail, clenching and unclenching the fingers. "I don't know Al. I get the feeling that there's a lot going on here that I don't know."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Lust, are you ready to remind me why I was sleeping in your bed and not my own?" Envy asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he got up that afternoon, "Did we fuck or what? I can't remember last night at all."

Lust glared at Envy a moment before dishing up a bowl of soup and some bread and butter for him. "No Envy, we didn't do that. If you had done _that _with me, you would have remembered it, trust me," Lust replied, handing him the food and sitting down next to him as he started to wolf it down. "But you were dead tired last night, so I can understand your not remembering what we did with your room."

"What you did with my room?" Envy asked. He put down his food and walked to his door, opening it with surprising speed. "Lust. Dead girl. In my bed. What the f-" he stopped. "I remember now, Dante's using my room to keep this bitch."

"Yes," Lust replied, walking to the cupboard and taking out a bottle of a light transparent green solution and drawing out the last of it with a needle. "And it's just about time for her medicine." Envy stared as Lust waked past him in and grabbed Riza's arm, sticking it with the needle and pouring in the liquid. "She still needs to be fed and turned over so that she doesn't get bed sores, but she should wake up sometime either tonight or in the morning. When she wakes up you must tell her nothing and keep her here alright?"

"She's waking up?" Envy asked.

"Yes, she's been on these drugs for weeks, her immune system's started to adapt to blocking them so she's waking up. And we're out of them for that matter," Lust said, rolling Riza off of her stomach and onto her back. "You can't do anything to her while she's asleep, she's too fragile in this state."

"Who do you take me for, I'd never take advantage of a woman while she slept," Envy replied in faked dismay, "What would be the point? I want her to be awake and feel the pain I cause her." Lust brought in a bowl of light broth and started pouring spoonfuls into the girl's mouth.

"Sometime between, say, midnight and 3 in the morning she should wake up. Tell her as little as you can, that's all I ask," Lust replied, pouring the last of the soup down her throat and getting up. "And if you need someone to bitch to about it, please, don't come to me."

"Midnight eh?" Envy said to himself, crouching down next to her as Lust left the room and the door clicked shut. "You had better cherish the time you spend asleep Hawkeye."

A/N I personally love envy with all of my heart, I've found myself somewhat obsessive over him lately. He's just so awesome, and super hot… In other news, yes, the end of the Fullmetal Alchemist series has been aired, and no, I have not seen it yet. I do not know the ending, and I do not want to know it until I see it with my own eyes. So here is my warning to you all. Should I get word of any spoilers at all that take place further in the series than episode 49, I will discontinue this, and all of my other stories. I feel very strongly about this, so don't think of it as an idle threat. In other news, not too long of a chapter, but a quick update, thanks to the help of peppermint ice cream. Five reviws at least, and as always, peppermint ice cream makes me update faster. Well, later!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N This is the first story I've updated in several weeks, but I have a valid excuse. I've been in Japan, just got back quite recently actually. So, as I'm quite fond of this story personally, it was first to be updated. It was a really nice break, and I needed it, but now I'm back and ready to type. This was a fun chapter to type, originally I was against a Lust Envy pairing, but it worked its way in… guess you'll all see. Well, here you go, and because of your patience you get an extra long chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.

It wasn't until late that night, around midnight that Winry was finished docking. Ed wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat back. "I'd almost forgotten how hard it is to initially get automail," Ed said plainly, reminiscing over his own first mechanical limbs. "I've got to go see Hughes, can you take care of him for me?" He asked Winry, who was busy cleaning up. She nodded, wiping the blood from her tools as Ed walked out. His boots squelched on the blood covering the floor, which he wiped off at the door before continuing. He'd never liked Roy, hell, until recently he'd hated the colonel, but to see him there… to see him crying from pain, yelling for Riza… it hurt. And what really killed him was that Ed could relate, he knew the pain Roy was going through, and this all made it that much harder to go on hating the colonel.

Ed knocked on the office door, letting himself in after a moment. "It's done."

"He's got the automail?" Hughes asked, looking up from a folder of papers, "You look exhausted Ed, what's up?"

"I had to hold him down," Ed replied, sitting down next to Hughes, "My ears are still ringing from the screams. So how's it going?"

Hughes nodded, picking up the pictures of Riza's corpse he'd been looking over. "Either she's somehow not dead in these pictures, or that's not her," he said, "And I seriously doubt she can live without a pulse. I was one of the first ones on the scene after she was found and she was dead as a doorknob. And then there's the question of what happened to the body."

"Hughes, there's something I have to tell you," Ed said after a moment. "It's about the homunculi. I think they may be involved with this."

"How so?" Hughes asked. "Though that would explain a lot of the otherwise unexplainable things. So tell me Ed; why?"

"Hughes, I don't want Roy to know yet, but I think he may have created a homunculus," Ed said, holding his head with his hand. "Homunculi, the way they're created… it's through failed human transmutations. It's the aftermath you could say, and they take the form of the person who was attempted to be brought back to life. But if Riza still is really alive, I don't know what would happen." Hughes sat I slight shock for several seconds, trying to comprehend what had just been said.

"So you're saying that, that out there somewhere… is a new homunculus, a Riza look alike?" Ed paused, before nodding. "Ok, let's assume Riza's still alive," Hughes continued, "And this homunculus was brought to life. And, lets also assume that the homunculi were behind this all for some unknown motive. What we need to look out for now is where they all are, and why this is all happening. Any ideas?"

"Maybe they simply wanted a new homunculus," Ed replied, "A replacement for one of the ones that died. That's a possible explanation isn't it?"

"We're using guesswork right now, but I'd have to agree that'd fit. But then why keep Riza alive? And after that, there's the latter matter," Hughes said, "Of who or what it was that took her place, and where she is now."

_IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII_

_Riza ran through the flowers, tripping over a false footing and falling face first in a lush patch of grass. It felt like landing on clouds, or a thick, soft blanket. Riza got up, stopping as she saw Roy suddenly standing before her. "Roy, where are we? Why am I here?" She asked, brushing the dust off of her clothes. She was in a white sundress. _

_"We're dreaming Riza," He said blandly, "You'll wake up soon."_

_"But, but why've I been asleep so long? It feels like years I've been here," Riza replied, "Where were you all of this time?"_

_"How should I know?" He replied, rubbing the back of his neck exasperatedly, "But I won't be here long." Riza ran up towards him, kicking off white high-heeled shoes she didn't even remember putting on as her eyes watered. She fell into a hug with him, crying. Roy hugged her back, whispering words of comfort to her as he stroked her hair. _

_"Roy, I want to wake up, I don't want to be here anymore," Riza cried, "I want to see you again, the real you!" Roy smiled softly, hugging her tightly. So tightly that he began to melt away, his body becoming smoke, drifting away on the wind bit by bit. "Don't leave me here!" Riza yelled as he broke apart completely and she fell crying on the ground. _

Roy's eyes snapped open in bed; he was covered in a cold sweat. Roy lay there, basking in the pain of the automail attachment, before sitting up and drinking a glass of cold water beside his bed. Then he lay down to go back to sleep. He couldn't remember any of his dream.

_Riza sat on the ground cradling her weary body, alone once again. "I want to wake up," she whispered, "I can't live like this. Why can't I wake up!" And she felt blackness consume her, and she felt the world reborn as she truly began to wake up. _

Riza opened her eyes blearily, looking around slowly. And then she looked down, and she screamed.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lust's head was aching at four that morning; if this noise kept up she'd have to find another flat to stay in. Everyone had been woken up quite a bit earlier by the awakening of Riza and the inevitable screaming that followed. Sloth's bedroom door swung open and she trudged out hatefully. "Why couldn't he wait until the morning?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and ears.

"I think I'd like to go and see this new homunculus," Lust said after a moment. "It'll give me a chance to get out of here before I go deaf." Sloth nodded, walking over to the stove and putting on a pot of coffee. Lust walked out of the door, strolling down the staircase and off towards Dante's, enjoying the fresh air and the quiet. Her ears burned, god that woman could scream good.

She was walking down a winding staircase about half of an hour later, carrying a brightly lit candelabrum. It looked like no one was awake she thought to herself dully, turning on the lights and walking through the rooms. They were all magnificently lit and decorated, in an old, but beautiful style. Wrath ran out, seeing Lust and bouncing over in that ADD fashion of his. "Lust, Lust, want to play?" He yelled, grinning, "Did you come to see me? Did you? Where's mommy?" Lust glared at the youth, trying to comprehend what he was saying as it was all slurred together in a hyper yelp.

"I'm here to see the new homunculus, where is it?" Lust asked. Wrath looked slightly downcast, but quickly regained his vigor and agreed to take Lust to it.

"Is that all Lusty Lust Lust?" he asked, leading her through a maze of doorways, "You never want to come down here, we never see you."

"Well, Envy's been keeping me up all night so I thought this'd be a good way to get away from all of the noise," she replied, following as Wrath drug her behind him, clutching her hand.

"Mommy comes down here lots but you don't. Don't you like it with us?" He asked.

A ghost of a smile flicked across Lust's face before she replied. "Yes Wrath, of course I do. Lust just gets very busy," she said. That, and the fact she avidly avoided any contact whatsoever with Dante, but that was for her to know.

Wrath pondered his thoughts for a moment, picking up an earlier subject. "What's Envy doing? How's it keeping you awake, huh? Is he yelling?" Lust paused at this, a seldom seen flush of light pink crossing her face, before she decided what to say.

"It's something like that. Listen, I'll tell you what Envy does when you get older," Lust said carefully. "You wouldn't understand anyways." Wrath stopped, pouting and folding his arms.

"What is it? You never tell me anything," He complained. "You yell lots when you're alone with Envy. What are you doing? Does it hurt?" At this, Lust's face really did flush.

"Wrath," She said gently, struggling for words as she smiled, "Never mention this again, ok? Because if you ever say anything about Lust's alone time with Envy again, she may just have to lock you in a closet." Wrath weighed his options for a moment before he finally gave in, sighing as he turned to lead Lust through another door.

"Here she is," he said, turning on a light. Lust walked forward, stopping at the bed where the newest homunculus lay. "Dante's decided she's the new Greed you know." Lust pulled down the blankets that covered her sleeping body to see her face.

"What?" she said in shock, "But she's only been here a matter of days, it should take more than a month on the red stone for her to fully develop her form." Wrath shrugged, walking up beside Lust.

"She doesn't talk," Wrath said, "It's no fun being with someone who never talks."

"She's mute?" Wrath nodded his head.

"Yep. She hasn't said anything since she's been here." Lust looked at a clock, it was getting early.

"I'd better be getting back, it's almost 8," Lust frowned, "But before I forget, where is the new Greed's oroborus tattoo?"

"I dunno," Wrath replied. Lust paused.

Lust paused. "Guess I'll ask Sloth when I get back," Lust said, "ok Wrath, lead the way out of here."

A/N I got a lot of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga while in Japan, it was really cheap so I got up to book 13. I really like Envy in the manga, he's just so wonderfully insane looking so very often... I ate okonomiyaki while there, it was really good, I've been craving it like crazy... Ok then, five reviews at least, later!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N This chapter turned out extra long, there's just so much that still has to happen! Lately I've had to think a lot about why I write fanfiction, and I've realized my reasons. Some are nice, some not so much. Hmm, but there'll be more about that at my author's note at the end of the chapter I suppose, I don't want to write it right now. But for those of you too lazy or carefree to look it up though, basically, I need some time off to deal with some... problems. My unpredictable bouts of depression are coming more often, and I've got a lot to try and figure out, so... yeah.

Lust poured herself a cup of the already cold coffee when she got back. Sloth had left a note saying that she was going to see Wrath and Dante and that Envy had left with one of her assignments. They would both be back late tonight, not for hours. Lust sipped the murky coffee, looking down at a note at the bottom of the paper, and spitting out her coffee after reading it.

_P.S. You have to look after Riza all day ok? She's still in Envy's room, have fun. -Sloth_

"What do they think I am, a babysitter?" She said sarcastically. Lust crumpled up the piece of paper, rethinking throwing it away and using it to mop up the majority of the coffee she'd spit out. She sighed, looking through their cabinets for food. Nothing good, at least, nothing she could cook. Lust finally found a can of chicken noodle soup, which she simply pried open with her nails and set on the stove, heating it up on an open flame. She took it off as it began to steam, grabbing a rusty spoon from the counter and taking it with her. Lust walked into Envy's room, closing the door. "Eat this," she said plainly.

Riza was huddled under a heap of blankets shivering. She made no move to reveal herself, or take the soup. "You need to eat to get back your strength, you're starving at this point." Riza didn't move. Lust set down the soup and spoon, grabbing handfuls of the blankets and ripping them away. Riza was wearing what they'd changed her into once they first brought her back, a white, somewhat stained shirt, big enough to be a rather short dress. "Eat," Lust said, handing her the can. Riza took it and started eating silently.

"Oh don't tell me you're mute too," Lust sighed. Riza's somewhat red eyes rose questioningly at this.

"…Who's mute?" she asked in a hollow voice, sipping the soup.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just someone I know," Lust replied hurriedly. "Well, you sure had an early waking. You woke everyone up with your screaming, I'm surprised you haven't lost your voice." Riza shuddered, hugging her legs closer to herself.

"When I woke up," she gulped back tears, "That, that _thing_ had his fingers inside of me." Riza stopped there, gulping again, seemingly unable to continue.

"I assume you mean Envy?" Lust said plainly. Riza nodded. "Well that's not that bad, trust me. That man's maniacal, it only gets worse from here on in. He loves causing pain."

"Where am I?" Riza asked. After the morning, she felt so utterly humiliated and horrified she couldn't shake the shame even if she tried.

"You're in the flat where we stay. You've been asleep for, lets see, about two and a half weeks now actually, that's why you're so weak," she replied simply, sitting down next to Riza. "You're staying with us, at least for the time being, so get used to it."

"…Has Roy come looking for me?" Riza asked after a moment, "Where is he?"

"Still in the Central HQ from what I know," Lust answered, "And no. No one's come looking for you. That's all that I can tell you for now, I'm sure Envy or someone around here will mess up and let the cat out of the bag sooner or later though, so you'll figure it all out in the end I dare say. Finish eating." She got up, walking out of the room pointedly. Today was going to be dull.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lust looked up from picking dirt specks out from beneath her fingernails. There was a knocking, scratching sound at the door. Happy for at least something to do, no matter what, Lust got up and went to the door, twisting it open. Then she suddenly tripped over herself, falling backwards as something black and white darted into the room, speeding into Envy's room. Lust got up, following it in awkwardly. Riza was smiling, laughing whole-heartedly as a black and white dog sat on her lap, happily licking her face. Black Hayate was home.

"You know you can't keep that dog here," Lust said after a moment, leaning against the doorframe bemusedly. It was a bit of a relief to finally see the girl smiling.

"Black Hayate, this is Lust," Riza smiled, gesturing towards the sin. Hayate yipped an appreciative bark.

"…He can stay a little while," Lust sighed, "But if Envy or Sloth sees him they'll kill him. Your gamble." She left Riza to enjoy the bitter sweet company of her dog, going back to her usual procrastinating, used whenever she was left to hold up fort.

Riza checked to make sure that Sloth was gone before making Hayate sit down and getting up on wobbly legs to look around. No luck. Both paper and pen were absent from the room entirely. Riza finally just took the bottom of the sheets on the bed and bit them desperately, ripping off a strip. She then, after much more scrounging, found nothing to write with, and so resorted to another measure. Taking a knife from the desk, she slit the side of her wrist, twisting the knife inside it.

She winced, biting her lip until blood dripped into her mouth as well, and held her hand down until blood dripped down it. She took her index finger and scrawled in blood on the fabric. She blew on the fabric to help it dry, before rolling it up and hooking it into a loop on Hayate's collar. "Ok Hayate," she said, her voice soft and scared, "Think Lassie, come on boy, get this to Roy for me."

Lust stopped her pacing when she heard a sudden noise. Footsteps, in high heels, were coming. She sped into Envy's room, looking for the dog. There! "Sloth's here, get rid of that thing!" Lust whispered urgently, "She'll walk in any second now, put it out the window!" Riza took Hayate by the scruff of his neck urgently, throwing open the window and setting him down on the ground outside. Riza closed the window quickly as they heard the front door opening and closing. Lust looked to make sure Hayate was heading away, before stopping at the sight of something white hanging off of his collar. Something that hadn't been there before.

"What is that?" She whispered desperately to Riza, "What the hell have you put on that dog?" Riza tried to hide her wrist, feigning innocence.

"It was note wasn't it," Lust said. Riza flinched. "Thought so. Well that's ok then. All that depends now is what it said, tell me." Sloth opened up the door, causing both people in the room to look up.

"So what's going on in here?" she asked indifferently.

"The girl 's got a bad cut," Lust replied, getting up passively, "You know how Envy is. I was just leaving to get some bandages, could you find them for me?" Lust grabbed Riza's wrist forcefully, pulling it into sight. Sloth nodded, leaving. "As far as anyone is concerned, there was never a dog here," Lust whispered, "If anyone finds out about this little stunt it's my neck on the line."

Riza sat in silent defiance as Sloth came back into the room with a basic med kit. She handed it to Lust, pausing for only a moment before leaving. "Envy should be back in an hour or two," she said blandly, "I think he's had a bad day so you should be ready for him." She closed the door. Lust sighed, pulling open the minuscule box and pulling out some thick band-aids.

"Tell me what the note said," Lust demanded quietly, taking Riza's arm.

"Why should I? Roy'll read it and he'll come here and find me," Riza said. "I wrote 'Homunculi have me; help,' or something along those lines."

"No one will understand it or help," Lust replied. "You'll understand soon. There, that should hold for now."

"…What did Sloth mean, to 'be ready for Envy'?" Riza asked, trying to collect herself.

"He's had a bad day," Lust replied, packing up the box, "And you're the one he'll take it out on. You never know what he'll do, it'll most likely be painful, that's one of the reasons he keeps around the knifes and such. That and boredom I suppose." She got up with such a high air of finality that Riza had no heart to ask for anything else. Lust paused before opening the door. "Hawkeye…"

"It's Mustang now," she said quietly.

"…So you're just going to wait for your husband to come and save you? I'd always thought you of a different state of mind." And she left Riza to try and realize what she'd meant.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Hughes walked down the corridor, looking at the moon. Investigations on Riza's murder were on a stand still right now; neither he nor Ed had nothing to work with. He decided to go to dinner instead of bothering the boy. A shadow watched as he changed direction, before it left the darkness and headed towards Roy's office. "Hey, is Ed here?" Hughes asked, walking into Roy's office. Ed looked up, putting down the papers he'd been working on.

"I'll be right with you," he said, stacking them beside him, and getting up to follow Hughes out the door. "Hughes, what is it? It's not a good time right now, I've still got a stack of papers to finish before heading in for the night."

"Ed, I need to know what you think of the case of Riza," Hughes asked quietly. Ed glanced around, looking at Hughes questioningly.

"What're you talking about? Did you find any news on her? Is she really still alive?" He asked urgently.

"No," Hughes said slowly, "I was just going to go over facts with you."

"Tell me if you find anything, I'm going to dinner," Ed replied, "We're still working with the homunculus theory right?" Hughes hesitated, and then nodded. Ed gave him a brief smirk, before walking down the hall to dinner, his stomach grumbling.

"Well, this sure is getting interesting isn't it?" Hughes mused, "My work day's almost done, I'd better watch the Fullmetal pipsqueak a bit longer though." He walked back into the shadows and disappeared.

Ed walked into the cafeteria, stopping when he saw Hughes just starting to eat. "Hughes, what're you doing here?" He asked. Hughes looked up.

"Eating, what else would I be doing?" Ed's brow furrowed, before his stomach grumbled and he shrugged it off, heading in to get his dinner.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Hayate whined, scratching at the door to the Mustang house. He wandered off to the other place he'd been to before. A dog's mind is simple, but he had one thought in him now that he'd been let down by the black haired person and the blonde one. He started walking down the street, stopping only to scratch at his worn down collar. It was discolored, and noticeably old and torn. Hayate walked off, following familiar scents until he came to the military HQ. Hayate walked in, finding his way to Roy's office and nudging the door open with his nose. Fury looked up, he was the only one still there. "Black Hayate!" he said in surprise, "How'd you get in here?" Hayate bounded up and Fury patted his head happily.

"Here, Riza was going to give you this, but, I guess I should now," Fury said, his smile disappearing. He reached into the desk next to his; the late Riza Mustang's to be specific. Roy had never taken out any of Riza's things after her death, and there was an unspoken agreement that no one would touch them. Fury pulled out a collar, brand new, with a light blue color and a pattern of bones on it from one of the drawers. He reached down, unhooking Hayate's collar and setting it down on Riza's desk. He slipped on the new collar, which Hayate gave an appreciative scratch before yawning. "I'm pretty tired too," Fury smiled weakly, "Here, I'll take you back to Roy's on my way home ok? He left a few minute ago so he should be there now." Fury got up, walking to the door and leaving, closely followed by Hayate. Hughes or someone would come back and turn out the lights and lock the doors later.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Ed walked into the office, planning on finishing the papers he'd left and leave for the night, stopping when he saw Hayate's collar on the desk. "Fury must've finally given him the new collar," Ed said to himself, picking it up. He tossed it into the trash, stopping as he saw something white red hanging off of it. Ed pulled off and unrolled a strip of cloth, looking it over. He gasped, dropping it and running out of the room. A black cat slipped in the ajar door and pawed the fabric open. It almost looked as though it was trying to read it. But that would simply be silly.

A/N I'll leave you to ponder what's happened so far. Also, I'm taking a bit of a break from writing so my updates will be much more unpredictable. Please read the newest announcement on my lookup about it, I really don't have the heart to retype it here. Poor Riza… I almost feel bad for making her feel so much pain. Oh well, such is the nature of much of my writing... Also, I'm on the fourth DVD of Witch Hunter Robin, I now love that series. Wonder what happened to Amon… and what the orbos are made of… oh the persistentquestions… well, goodnight.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N Hello there again, I felt the need to update… so here I am. This is a really fun story to write, and I'm still trying to add as much into it as I can as I go along. In other news, this story's gotten over 100 reviews, I'm so proud… I could cry. My next goal is 150; lets try for it! Bwahahaha, its 2 in the morning, I've just finished drinking a double gulp, and I am at my computer. All of the elements of a good chapter are here; lets just wait and see where it goes, shall we?

Disclaimer: If I owned FMA I wouldn't be up at 2 in the morning typing this up now would I? Didn't think so.

Envy slammed open the door, striding in furiously. "Where's Lust?" He asked loudly, glaring about.

"I'm right here," Lust replied, walking out of Envy's room with an empty tray in her arms, "I was just delivering dinner, seeing as you both left me here to baby sit." Envy pulled a strip of fabric out of his pocket, handing it to Sloth. Lust's eyes flashed with recognition, and she swore under her breath as Sloth unfolded it and looked it over.

"Ed found this. I got it before Hughes could see it," Envy said, venom filling his voice, "They know she's not dead. And the little pipsqueak has gotten the idea into his head that it's connected with us. And this just confirmed both of these." Sloth looked up at Lust, eyebrows raised.

"Now tell me Lust, dear," she said in seeming indifference, "How is it that Riza could get a note all of the way to central HQ? You were to watch her today, so you should know." Lust's eyes darted from one homunculus to the other.

"I wouldn't know, she might have sent it days before now," she said cautiously. Envy smiled bemusedly at her, looking in a certain way. Lust's mind clicked with that look. He knew. But Envy's expression reappeared into one of cold anger a moment later. Only Lust had seen his face.

"You know, that's true," Envy said thoughtfully, "No one's really been watching her before now. Lets not _jump to conclusions_." With that he strode over to his room, opening the door and walking in. "You, get up," He ordered. Riza's eyes opened up from her light sleep. She sat up, rubbing her eyes before fixing a glare at Envy and the other homunculi. "When did you write this?" he asked, showing her the fabric. "Just tell us, you won't get in trouble."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied haughtily. Best play it safe. Envy leaned down and looked strait into her eyes. Then he slapped her across the face, a clapping noise sounding out through the room. Riza grabbed her reddening cheek. "She sent it today," Envy said, getting up and walking out the door. "I'll go tell Dante."

"Envy, wait," Lust pleaded, panic spreading through her. "We can work this out on our own can't we? You don't need to get Dante involved, we can take care of it!" Envy turned back at the door, stopping.

"I'll bet we could," he replied. Lust sighed in relief. "But where would the fun in that be?" He walked through the doorway, slamming the door. Lust fell to her knees, staring at the door in horror.

"I'm going to bed," Sloth said, stopping to look over at Riza, who'd been watching in confusion. She turned and walked into her room, closing the door quietly.

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"Eat," Sloth said the next morning, walking into Envy's room with a tray of scones and some milk. There was also a bit of jam, because everyone needs jam. She sat it down next to Riza, who'd just woken up, and left. Riza ate it thankfully; she'd learned to appreciate food since her stay there. The homunculi usually did not eat very much, except of course for Gluttony they only eating for amusement or the occasional, uncanny need for chocolate. So most of the food they fed her was extremely odd, or tasted terrible. Envy hadn't come back since when he'd left the night before. Lust had disappeared sometime in the night as well.

The other thing the homunculi lacked was entertainment. Not even a deck of cards was to be found anywhere. And Sloth was set to watch Riza today. "Sloth?" she asked, walking out of the room she spent most of her time confined to. Sloth looked up from a newspaper.

"Where's Lust and Envy?" she asked, "I haven't seen them at all since last night."

"Do you _want_ to see Envy?" Sloth asked.

"No, not really, but what about Lust?" Riza asked.

"…It is of no consequence to you," Sloth flipped a page of the newspaper. "She'll probably be back sometime this evening. Might be longer, might be shorter, you never know with these sort of things." Exactly what sort of things, Riza had no idea, but she went back and sat down on the bed. She didn't particularly like Lust, she didn't like any of them, but Lust had at least been better than the other two. Envy was a total bastard, and Sloth, well, Sloth was just boring.

"Do you have any decks of cards?" Riza asked after a few more minutes. Sloth shook her head. "…Could you go buy me some?"

"Will that make you contented?" Sloth sighed, folding up the paper. Riza nodded, anything for something to do. Sloth got up hesitantly. "You'll have to stay in Envy's room while I'm gone. Try anything again and you _will_ be punished." Sloth locked the door to Envy's room, and his window. Then she left. Which got Riza to wondering why there would be locks on the other side of the door. She lay down on bed, staring at the ceiling. Lets see, how many spots are there o the walls? One, two, three…

Riza frowned. She was reduced to this. To counting the spots on the walls, an unnerving amount deep red. She turned on her side, fidgeting. Lust had at least provided someone to talk to, even if only a bit. Riza thought over where she could be, giving up after a few minutes amusing herself with random notions. No one told her anything here, and not nearly enough to even try to guess something that big. Lets see, four, five, six, seven…

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Lust felt pain. She doubled over, puking mouthfuls of red substance in horror. Loosing the red stones isn't the same as losing blood, or some other bodily element. Humans can only imagine what it feels like, to feel life escaping you in this way. Not simply your body, but your life, the closest thing you have to a soul. Lust finished bringing up two mouthfuls, before collapsing, lying on her side and staring into space. The transmutation circle stopped glowing. Lust didn't have the strength or will to wipe the tears off of her cheeks. She'd lost only a small portion of the stone, but it had been the most terrible thing she'd ever felt. She watched through bleary eyes as they melted away.

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Riza played solitaire for the rest of the day, and no conversation was struck by either of them, so the day passed in silence.

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"Roy, we need to talk with you," Ed said, grabbing Roy's arm to lead him to his office. "_Now._" When they got there and walked in, Hughes was the only other person inside. He'd been waiting.

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Envy sat I in the room in a corner, changing forms out of boredom more than anything else. "If it's not one, it's the other," he mused, staring passively at the woman on the other side of the room. And then, after so much waiting, something happened. Amber eyes opened up. She sat up, looking around for the first time. She opened her mouth, forming shapes with it, but no noise came out.

A/N Ok, I'm going to sleep now. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, as always, watermelons make me update faster. Also, you can no longer buy peppermint ice cream. It's so very depressing; I should want to die if not for the watermelons arriving. Well, my desperate need for sleep bids me to say farewell. One last note though, as I've said in only one of my other fics, it was just my birthday a couple months ago… I turned 14. Hurray for me. Well, goodnight all.


	13. apple pie

A/N Ok, it's ranting time. Someone has told me that the last chapter seemed like filler. You think that I write not for the enjoyment I get from constantly adding in twists and manipulating the characters, but for the reviews? No. I will NEVER add filler into a story. If I do, it had a purpose. But that was not filler. So, just because that really pissed me off, I'm going to make this story shorter than planned and fit as much plot into this chapter as I can, it's extra long. Remember, my stories are filler free, and often low calorie as well.

Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, they would be having keg parties at least once a week at Roy's, and the homunculi would all take that time off to party and not kill people. Well… kill less people than usual. And all minor, not sexy characters.

Riza sat and stared at the wall. You could only play so many games of solitaire. "I hope Lust gets back soon," she said to herself, "Or I'll die of boredom sooner than anything else." Sloth wouldn't tell her anything about it, but maybe Envy would. Even thinking of the shape shifting homunculus made her nauseous, but it seemed the only course left to her. Riza sat in the dark of the night; she'd made it to 348 spots on the walls. She'd recounted several times. That was the exact number. And finally, after hours of dull nothingness, the front door opened.

"Sloth, I'll take over here, Dante needs you," Envy said, walking in. He seemed to be in a better than usual mood. "She's awake." Sloth got up, nodding curtly. Riza guessed that she'd left, considering the door could be heard opening and closing again, before Envy stalked into his room. He opened his desk drawers, pulling out a large black tee shirt. He stopped after a moment, looking at Riza. "What're you looking at?"

"Envy, why are you in such a good mood?" Riza asked cautiously, "Tell me, where is Lust?"

"What's it to you?" he asked, taking his shirt and tossing it onto the bed.

"I don't like being kept in the dark," Riza replied, "And to put it simply, one more day spent with Sloth and I'll go insane with boredom. Now tell me." She glared at him mercilessly.

Envy glared back, before speaking. "I'll admit Sloth isn't a barrel of laughs to be around for to long," A sly, menacing grin crossed his face, "If you're that desperate, I could watch you tomorrow." Riza glared at him in an astounding display both of disgust and hatred. Envy shrugged. "So you want to know where Lust is?"

"That's what I said," She replied.

"You know what? I'm going to tell you," Envy said after a minute of thought, "After all, it is your fault. Your little stunt there has condemned Lust to a bit of living hell set up for her by our master. Worse things can happen to us than being cut with knives. She should be back sometime tonight or tomorrow though, depending on what happens there." Riza sat uncomfortably as the realization of the full impact her little note had made on everyone around her. "And you know what the best part is?" Envy smiled, drinking in her reaction with joy, "Your note made no sense to the only person who saw it before I got it."

"How could it not?" Riza looked up in horror, "Isn't everyone looking for me?"

"No one is looking for you," Envy said, crouching down next to her and cupping her cheek. It was the cheek he'd slapped. "You're dead."

"Ok, I know you're lying now," Riza replied, sighing in slight relief, but Envy shook his head, laughing.

"Not literally of course," He said, looking at the swelling on her cheek, contemplating, "But everyone thinks that you're dead. Didn't you wonder why I was so mad when I first got back? Why I raped you?" Riza shivered, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I spent two full weeks pretending to be your corpse, they even buried me!" Envy no longer wore a smile. "And then Lust came and dug me up. Everyone thinks that you are dead. Mustang had one hell of a time trying to get over that, he went back onto the drink." Riza sat, unable to move. "I'm going to bed."

"You're not going to…" Riza asked in a hollow voice.

"Use you? I don't think I will. You're in much more pain this way by the looks of it," Envy replied, pulling off his shirt and laying down on the other side of Riza on the bed. Riza got up and walked out of the room. She went into the other bedroom and lay down on Lust's bed. Riza cried.

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"Where is she?" Roy asked, getting up from his desk. Ed had just finished explaining everything they'd found.

"That's the tricky part," Hughes replied, "We have no idea where the homunculi are."

"Does anyone have any idea at all?" Roy asked. Ed and Hughes both shook their heads. "I'm going to find my wife," Roy said angrily, "No matter how many strings I have to pull, or how many rules I have to break to get there."

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"Can you hear me?" Sloth asked the girl who lay in bed. She looked so human, if not for the oroborus tattoo she could easily pass as one. The homunculus sat up and nodded her head, looking at Sloth. Dante walked in, sitting down next to Sloth. "So she really is mute?"

"Yes," replied Dante, "All of her other senses seem to be in tact though. What do you think, will she be of use?"

"Most definitely," Sloth said, "Does she have any powers though?"

"None have shown themselves yet, but she appears to have all of the other traits of homunculi," Dante mused. "Listen to me. You are now Greed. Greed, do you have any memories?" Greed nodded. She opened her mouth, but stopped in silence.

"Go get her a sketch pad and pen," Dante ordered Sloth, who nodded benignly and left to fetch the wanted supplies. "You will be very interesting to watch indeed," Dante said, looking her up and down. She took her cheek in her hand. "Your cheek," Dante said in confusion, "Why is it so red?"

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As Riza lay in Lust's bed the next morning, a thought came into her head. Something the homunculus had told her. 'I didn't take you to be that kind of person.' Riza bit her nails thoughtfully, before taking one of the blankets she was under and ripping it.

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Sloth returned with paper and a pen. Dante looked up. "Thank you Sloth, I need something else too," she said, taking the items and giving them to Greed. "Get Envy, now." Sloth nodded, leaving again. Greed held the pen and paper in her hand undecidedly. Dante turned back to her, smiling sweetly. "Now Greed, write out whatever feelings you have, whatever memories you can think of." Greed nodded and held her pen at the ready. She stopped. Then, she drew out a word.

Dante looked over her shoulder at it and frowned. "That's can't be right… I need Envy here."

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Ed stopped pacing and looked up. It was so simple he had no idea how they'd all missed it. "Roy," he said hesitantly, "Roy, there's someone who's seen where the homunculi are. He knows where to find Riza, it's so simple!" Roy looked up the moment Ed spoke.

"Alright then Ed, who's this mysterious person?" Ed smirked in a very Roy like way.

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Riza waited until Envy left his room to get the newspaper before going in. She looked through his drawers, rummaging about, looking until she found it. The knife she'd used to cut herself. Riza wrapped her hand in the torn piece of blanket, praying that she'd not gotten too weak from being asleep all of that time. It was her only chance. Riza waited beside the door, until Envy walked in.

"What the hell," he began, before Riza leaped onto him, stabbing his hand with the knife. Envy was knocked back with the force of her weight, before Riza shoved as hard as she could on the knife. She then jumped back up, wrapping the blanket tightly around her fist and punching through the glass. Envy tried to get back up, and would have already caught her if the blade of the knife weren't stuck in the floor. He growled angrily, grabbing the knife and, with great effort, pulling it out of the floor and his hand. Riza had already punched through the glass and jumped out of the window, rolling at the end of her light fall to break the force of it. Envy wiped blood from the front of his clothes, before jumping out after Riza as she sprinted away. Riza turned into an alleyway, this place was father outside of Central then she'd ever been and she had no idea where she was. The streets were deserted. Riza kept running, turning at random. She'd gotten a cut on her bad shoulder, but it was shallow. She could barely move her arm anymore. Riza stopped, seeing a dark figure coming out of a large church. She looked at it in horrible recognition. Lust walked out, slowly, and with a limp in her usual stride.

A/N I would never kill Lust, she's too awesome! Wait, scratch that first part, I have killed her before in fics… huh. But I'm trying not to in this one. I love the homunculi; they're just so cool. I also have a new love as of late. McDonald's apple pies, they're so good, I just ate one… yum. Well, typed this up while listening to Crooked Teeth, if more than one person can tell me the band that did that song I will update faster. Hahahaha, I ended this chapter with about, lets count… three cliffhangers if I'm not wrong, not to mention the many more little questions. That's what you get for calling my story 'filler'. Mwahahahahaha… I feel depressed.


	14. ice cream

A/N Things around my place right now are just… I can't even describe it. I'm not really feeling well… but I'm managing pretty well, so don't mind me. Moving onto something more palatable, I just finished the book 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and I've also seen the movie. My favorite characters remain Hatsumomo and Pumpkin; I love them both so much! Hatsumomo really is my very favorite though, I just can't help but love her… Well, not my best chapter, but anyhow, here you go.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, it would be a terrible, terrible series.

Hughes held out a dog biscuit, getting back up as it was snatched away. "So Ed, this is your great plan?" Hayate barked excitedly, swallowing the last of the treat and running about in a circle.

"Think about it," Ed replied, "Hayate's found her once, why can't he do it again? It's our best bet at this point." Roy opened up his wallet and pulled out his picture of Riza without her bikini top and put it in front of the puppy.

"Hayate, fetch!" he said. Hayate yipped and chewed on his tail. "…Come on Hayate, think Lassie. Get Riza and you can have more treats," Roy finally said, holding up another dog biscuit. Hayate jumped up. Roy smirked. "Yes Black Hayate, Riza equals treats!" he continued, gesturing from the picture to the treat. Hayate bounded forward, followed by the three of them.

"You really think this'll work?" Hughes asked as they sprinted to keep up with the dog.

"It's like Ed said, we don't have any other choice," Roy replied, "And sometimes I really do think that dog is smarter than we give him credit for." Hughes shrugged and turned a corner, still following the dog.

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"Hayate, wait up," Ed said desperately, wheezing and huffing in a desperate attempt to bring air into his system. The three determined men followed the pup at the breakneck speed of a walk, having sprinted for the past half hour. "I never liked dogs, does anyone even know where we are?"

Hughes looked around half-heartedly, just as out of breath as the others. "Somewhere outside of Central I guess. Roy, are you sure this was a good idea?" Roy nodded, attempting a slow jog, but giving up a few seconds later. Hayate stopped about a block away, sitting and pointing his nose into the air, sniffing. He got back up, turning abruptly down an alleyway. The trio of Ed, Hughes, and Roy gathered up their strength and jogged desperately after Hayate, each one regretting not having brought with a leash.

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"Lust, Lust are you okay?" Riza asked as Lust walked up. Lust's eye held no spark of mischief as she looked up, no glint of hope. Only a blank, empty stare. "Listen, I'm so sorry about this, what the hell did they do to you?" Riza asked in horror as their eyes met.

"…They took my life," she replied with an emotion in her voice Riza couldn't recognize. Her fingernails extended and she raised them, her hand shaking as a second later they retracted.

"Aren't you mad?" Riza asked, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. "You aren't going to hurt me?"

"No," Lust replied, "I'm not allowed to. We need you alive." A tear ran down Riza's cheek. She felt like she'd been slapped, hard and crisp on her still red cheek. A horrible silence rang throughout the air, all of the previous companionship between the two women lost.

"I'm sorry, you know I'm sorry," Riza said, wishing that Lust would say something else, anything. Lust's hands flew to Riza's throat at this, clenching it until all of the breath left Riza. She struggled, as Lust's face glowed in white-hot hatred.

"You're sorry that I lay for hours, wishing every moment that I was dead?" she spat, "You're sorry that I got blamed for trying to pay you back for Envy's harassment, that I gave up what little happiness I had for an ingrate like you?" Lust dropped Riza, who fell into a heap on the ground, coughing and gasping. "So, moving forward to the present, how did you escape?" Riza choked, gasping and holding her throat, stumbling back up onto her feet.

"That was my mistake," Envy said, stalking out of an alleyway, stopping to catch his breath. "Can you get her for me Lust? It seems we're going to have some company." Lust didn't move, her eyes squinted in a glare. "Unless you'd like to pay a visit to Dante again, don't let me get into your way," Envy added mirthlessly a minute or so later. Lust grabbed Riza's right arm and twisted it around her back, turning a moment later back to the church as water spilled down the steps.

"…I'm not even going to ask," Sloth said after reforming and looking around the general area, "Envy, Dante wants you. Greed, it seems, is in pain."

"Make sure Hawkeye gets back to the loft Sloth, and watch out, Mustang, Fullmetal runt, and Hughes are in the area. I smell a rat," Envy glanced at Lust, "But they're headed strait here." He didn't stay to listen to anyone, and simply stalked off into the church.

"Lust, you take the girl, I'll stay here on lookout," Sloth said, "On second thought, leave her here, it seems not even Envy can watch her correctly so we'd better stay together."

"And if Mustang comes?" Lust asked warily.

"Then Riza may have the delightful pleasure of outliving her dear husband," Sloth stated. Riza froze at this, no longer struggling to get free.

"You wouldn't kill him," Riza said in shock, "You couldn't, why not just kill me instead?"

"You, dear, are our guinea pig," Sloth continued, "We don't know what will happen to Greed if you die, and vice versa. Experimentation on the both of you hasn't started yet, thank goodness, so we need you well."

"Experimentation?" Riza breathed out, her mind whirring.

"Oh yes, what did you think we were keeping you for?" Sloth asked, as though it was as obvious as, say, the fact that the sky is blue. "I really don't like it myself, what with Envy around I've heard enough of your screams." Riza turned back to Lust, who's expression of hatred had dissolved.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Riza asked, visibly paling in the dim light.

"…You had enough to deal with already," Lust replied solemnly. Both Lust and Sloth looked up suddenly.

"It seems there is no more time for talk," Sloth said, dropping into a pool of water. Lust's fingernails expanded and her grip tightened on Riza's arm.

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"What's going on?" Envy asked, walking into the spacious room. "She looks fine to me." Greed was standing beside Dante.

"I'm not sure," Dante replied thoughtfully, "She's said that she remembers pain. The only other thing she wrote was 'don't forget to buy whipping cream'. Did whipping cream have some sort of significance in the original Hawkeye's life?"

"I can think of one thing you could do with it that would leave a lasting impression," Envy smirked.

"…You're thinking of something dirty aren't you?"

"You know you shouldn't jump to conclusions Dante, but, if you must know, yes. Something very, very dirty," Envy replied, "You know, I never took Riza to be the kinky type…"

"Moving on," Dante said quickly, "Take her outside to get a feeling for her surroundings." Envy took Greed's arm, smiling benignly, and walked to the door. "Envy, you're smiling, what's going on?"

"Oh nothing," Envy replied, "Though if you insist, I suppose I should tell you. Mustang, Elric, and Hughes should be getting here any minute." Then he led the way out.

A/N I had to add in that last part, it was just too great to leave out. I want to write a 'Memoirs of a Geisha' fanfic, but I really can find no inspiration… any ideas? Well, I think I'll go eat some ice cream, and, as always, watermelons help the lovely authoress update faster. Goodnight!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N Very dramatic chapter, lots of stuff happens. Bit of a cliffhanger, but I hope you enjoy it. Also, thank you for the watermelons.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, I am only a doting fan.

"When were you going to tell me?" Riza asked Lust, who stood on the ready, glancing about.

"When you needed to know," Lust replied quietly, barely moving her lips, "Like I said, we both had our hands full." Riza felt scared at this.

'_You're our guinea pig.'_

She shivered. And then, out of nowhere, came the sound of footsteps and yells. "Roy!" Riza yelled, tears running down her cheeks. She couldn't stay here any more, she wasn't going be to be turned into some sort of experiment.

"Don't make any noise," Lust said threateningly, squeezing Riza's arm painfully. She yelped quietly, clutching it.

"I have to," Riza said quietly through the pain, "I'd rather die than be an experiment… a lab rat." Lust glared at her, and then her expression changed into one of pain. She loosened her grip.

"Riza," she whispered as they saw dots running their way in the distance, "Promise me something. Promise me that you'll live a better life than me if you escape."

"What?" Riza asked, joy and sadness attacking her at the same time.

"Don't turn out like me," Lust replied, preparing to fight the quickly approaching trio, "Don't end up a failed experiment; never let them experiment on you."

"Why?" Riza asked quietly, her throat seizing up.

"If you can get back to Central our master can't touch you. Too many people, too many chances for something to go wrong," Lust continued, stepping forward to meet Edward, Hughes, and Roy, "We're in the middle of trying to keep up this war so she won't risk upsetting the public with any disappearances or casualties. Get out of here and never speak of this again or you'll end up right back here. Do you understand?"

Riza now understood why they'd been whispering. Sloth slid over their feet in liquid form, piling up in a ball of water in front of them both, shaping back up and running forward to meet her adversaries. "Why are you telling me this?" Riza asked, quietly as she could.

"Riza!" Roy yelled, catching sight of her and running all the faster. Ed ran to the front, slicing through Sloth with his automail blade. "Because remind me of myself," Lust replied sadly, "And because you have true love. All that I have… is a replica. Homunculi cannot feel." And with that she threw Riza backwards and ran the remaining feet to meet Roy and Ed; Hughes had split off to keep back Sloth.

Riza met the ground with force, her cheek scraping painfully on the cement. She got up and felt it; it was bleeding. Ed met Lust blade on blade, ducking at the last minute as her nails swiped across where his head should be. "Roy, get over here!" He yelled, as Roy snapped a burst of flame. Ed smirked, breaking off of the fight. He clapped his hands, working quickly as he could as he placed them on the ground. An enormous transmutation circle spread out on the ground, cut into the cement. Roy snapped his finger quickly as Lust jumped from side to side.

Lust looked down at the transmutation circle, realizing what it was in a single glance. She moved to run out of it, falling down just inside of it as Ed activated the circle. Lust's stomach folded in on itself, mumbling as she gulped the air, vomiting out a mouthful of red stones. "Stop it!" Riza yelled desperately. She'd always hated the homunculi, but Lust… she owed Lust. No one could hear her over the commotion. Lust got back up slowly, red stone still heaving from her mouth as she stumbled out of the circle. Lust fell down onto the ground, lying there slumped over, motionless except for the heavy rising and lowering of her chest.

"Roy go get her, I'll get Sloth," Ed yelled, pointing to Riza and then running back to help Hughes. Roy nodded curtly. He ran to Riza, pulling her up by her arm desperately.

"Let's go," he said. Riza wiped tears from her eyes, stopping at the sound of heavy doors opening. They all looked back at the sound of a malicious, terrifying laugh.

"What do you know, he's here!" Envy said in amazement, looking directly at Roy. "Where are you going so fast? Don't you want to see what you've _created?_" Roy stopped at this, staring in growing horror as a woman walked out and stood beside Envy. She had shoulder length blonde hair and was wearing a tight fitting black dress with inch long straps on her shoulders. She was Riza. Greed stared at Roy, her eyes widening and glazing over as she saw him. She touched her lips.

"Wonder what she'd say if she could speak," Envy said loudly, walking down the staircase towards Roy and Riza. "Wonder what'll happen when she sees you?" He asked this pointedly to Riza, who realized that Greed hadn't seen her. The only one she had eyes for was Roy. Roy was too stunned to speak, to move, to do anything as the pair walked forward. Green came up to him, closer and closer until they were face to face. Then, grabbing his face, she pulled it forward and kissed him.

"She certainly is forward for a first meeting," Envy whistled, wrapping his arm around Riza who could also do nothing but stare. "I would be jealous if I was you." He was clearly enjoying this too much. Greed stepped away, parting from Roy, before touching her lips. She smiled widely, opening her mouth.

"Roy." It was a single word, but it was obviously immensely meaningful to her. Envy stared at this.

"She spoke," He said, even losing his smile in a look of astonishment. The ground glowed unexpectedly, Envy and Greed both falling down in pain. They both in turn began to regurgitate the incomplete philosopher's stone, Envy dragging himself out of the circle and Greed trying to follow suit. Ed crouched on the outside of the circle, his hands firmly on it. Envy lay back, breathing heavily as he stumbled awkwardly to his feet.

He ran around the rim, forming himself into Edward with an automail blade before he took a swipe at the boy. The light died out as Ed jumped to the side. "Roy, finish it!" he yelled, catching Envy's blade on his own. "You know the elements, finish her off!" Roy nodded, turning back and going down on one knee, his hands down on the circle. It glowed.

Roy closed his eyes, trying not to see Greed. He had to do it, it was his duty… but she looked so much like her. Riza ran up beside Roy, sitting down next to him. Greed actually saw her for the first time then. She froze, her only movement the heaving of her stomach as she breathed and vomited the red stone. "I love you," she said quietly, her voice raspy. "Roy, I lo-" She fell over, dissolving into a pool of red. Roy looked up, tears stinging the corners of his eyes.

He got up, turning away to look to Ed and Hughes. Hayate jumped into Riza's arms, yipping delightedly. Roy grabbed Riza's wrist and started running. She followed him helplessly, turning back every so often to see what was happening. "Lust," she breathed as she saw the homunculus finally stand up. Ed jumped forward, slicing her across the neck and she fell down, blood spurting everywhere. "Lust!" Riza yelled, reaching back.

"Riza, we'll meet you at Central, wait in my office," Roy said quickly, opening the door on a military car waiting patiently far away enough to not be able to see any of the commotion.

"Roy, I can't," Riza yelled, "I need to help, I've got to get Lust-" Roy slammed the door shut. And then he gave Riza a look. It was the kind of look that said too much.

Too much sadness, too much regret. And then he turned, rock hard determination taking its place in his expression, and ran back. The car started up and drove forward.

"Roy!" Riza yelled, banging on the window, "Lust! Get back here! Don't leave me!" She screamed as loud as she could, crying uncontrollably. "Turn back, this is an order from a military officer." She yelled at the cab driver desperately.

"No can do," Havoc replied, "I've got strict instructions from someone higher up than you Hawkeye. And for once in my life I'm the one with the guns."

"I'll make sure you're demoted, I'll find where you live," Riza screamed at him desperately, "I'll, I'll-" She couldn't speak. She could only cry at this point, and so she sat back in her seat and wholeheartedly sobbed.

A/N Announcements are that I've posted a 'Memoirs of a Geisha' one shot, and that I've just finished writing the second chapter of my Naruto fic with **Witch of Darkness** 'The Means to an End,' and it is hilarious, so that should be posted soon. Lastly, I need a replacement beta reader, the requirements and notes are posted on my lookup so if you'd enjoy that then email me, no PM's. Oh the cliffhangers… well, I'm feeling quite disheartened tonight, so I will say no more.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N Very long chapter. I just went and saw 'Terminator' for the first time, it was hilarious, and I loved it. On a related note, I just got a LiveJournal account, its infamousbird so if you get the urge, send me a message there. I'm using it also to post oneshots that I've not posted here, so for now the ones I put there will only be available there. But I wont get to that for another day or two, so we'll see. Well, here you are. One warning though, the end is rather cruelly placed.

Riza cried and screamed, as she was drug from the car by Fury and Havoc. She'd threatened, she'd pleaded, she'd begged, but in the end she was still locked in Roy's office and was told not to be seen. Riza ran around at first, looking for a gun, a knife, anything to break through a window with, anything to help her feel safe. Giving up after a fruitless search, she lay down curled up on the couch, sobbing into her oversized tee shirt.

"They have no emotions," Riza said to herself when she had better control over herself, "Lust said so herself. She didn't care if I lived or died, she doesn't know compassion." Yet even this statement couldn't justify what possibly could have been her death. Riza clutched her legs to herself and began to sob quietly to herself again. This was what she'd been waiting for… so why wasn't she happy?

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Ed fell backwards onto the ground, grabbing his left arm as blood began to stain the inside of his sleeve. A second later he was falling over himself to get back up and jump away just in time to avoid… himself. Or, more truly put, Envy. "What now Roy?" He yelled desperately, clapping his hands together and conjuring up a spear from the ground. Envy threw himself forward, grinning wildly as he was blocked mid-swing by the spear. He grabbed onto it with his automail arm and stepped forward, kicking Ed in the stomach. The boy went flying.

"Ed!" Roy yelled, running his way and picking up the spear that had been dropped, checking on Ed. Envy had already walked back to see the other homunculi who weren't fighting, namely Greed and Lust. He was himself again.

"Dead yet?" Envy asked, kicking Lust hard in the side as she lay on the ground bleeding. The sound of something cracking rang through the air as he did this. Lust turned over, clutching her side in doubled pain. Envy crouched down beside her, pushing the hair out of her face. He caressed her cheek, staring into her fearful eyes. Her breathing was labored. "You will be soon. And do you know why?" Envy sat, staring into her light eyes, stroking her soft white skin. His face held none of the usual sick, cruel humor it almost always did. "You let her go. If you die it's your own fault, you know I'm going to have to clean this all up. Shame, you were quite the pretty face." Lust lay, struggling to breath. Envy's humor returned, and he smirked, getting up.

"Envy!" Envy looked over to Sloth. "Get them in, I'll stay here." Came the regular monotone of Sloth's voice. Envy frowned, leaning down and slinging Lust's body over his shoulder. He walked over to where Greed lay motionless; her body surrounded by a red stain in the ground, and picked her up as well. And with that, he walked up the staircase and kicked open the large church doors, walking in.

"Maes, Ed, run!" Roy yelled, snapping his fingers in an explosion. They were all showered in water droplets as they ran, Ed being helped by Roy. The water stopped falling and began to shape up in a pool of liquid and then a person. Sloth stood up, watching them run. Then, at a yell from inside the building, she turned and walked inside. Roy picked up Hayate, dropping him into the back of a military car before piling into it himself with Ed, and Hughes driving. "Maes, are you okay?" Roy asked, looking out the back window. No one was following them.

"I've been better," Hughes replied from the front seat, "But just a few scratches, nothing too bad."

"Elric, Edward are you alright?" Roy asked. Ed was leaning on him, his breathing heavy. Blood was pooling on the car seat around the boy.

"…Hurts," Ed managed, out of gritted teeth.

"Ed, do you think you can make it back to Central?" Roy asked, his voice louder than was needed. Roy ripped the bottom of his coat off, pulling Ed's coat off and wrapping the cut on his arm in the fabric.

"How's Ed?" Hughes asked, glancing back.

"…Drive faster," Roy said in return, finishing knotting the fabric around the boy's arm. Ed held his side, his eyes bleary. "Ed, where else are you hurt?"

"Ribs," Ed breathed out, "…broken." The fabric around his arm was beginning to soak through with blood.

"Come on Ed, just a few more minutes, you can do this," Roy demanded, running one of his hands through his hair in frustration. Ed leaned all of his weight onto Roy, closing his eyes and going limp. "Shit."

"What now?" Hughes asked, taking a sharp turn.

"Too much blood loss, he passed out," Roy replied, checking Ed's pulse. "How much longer?"

"Give me two minutes," Hughes replied, pushing down harder on the gas pedal.

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Riza sat in the darkness of the night, looking up as she heard a key being put into the door. It was jiggled about for another couple seconds, before the door opened. Roy stepped in, his coat gone and his white undershirt stained red brown. He closed the door and walked in, sitting down beside Riza. Riza didn't look up from the floor. "What happened?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Ed is in the hospital. He's lost too much blood so they aren't letting him out for at least a couple of weeks," Roy said, also staring at the floor. "Hughes and me got away with just a few minor scrapes, nothing too bad. But Ed… he said he was fighting the homunculus Envy." Riza lurched at the mention of the name.

"What about the homunculi, what about Lust?" Riza asked quietly. She turned to look at Roy. Roy looked up at her.

"They left. Envy took Greed and Lust and left, we aren't sure whether or not she's dead." Riza leaned on Roy, looking out of the window at the stars.

"Are you sure?"

"Riza, it doesn't matter, none of it matters," Roy replied, "You're back. You're alive. That's all I want to think about." He stroked Riza's blonde hair, smelling her scent. Admittedly, it wasn't that good since she'd been allowed few showers, but it was Riza nonetheless. Roy hugged her close and they sat in silence, finally relaxing.

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"Too bad, guess we couldn't save Lust," Envy said, sitting in complete boredom.

"Envy, stop saying that, Dante's still working on her," Sloth replied testily.

"Nope, she's dead for sure," Envy replied, enjoying his little joke. It was still undecided whether either of the two other homunculi would live, but Dante'd been at it for hours. It was far too much trouble to wait for another homunculus to be born. Envy sat with Sloth in an adjoined room, waiting for their master to return. Finally, a door opened. Dante walked in, and both Envy and Sloth got up. "What's the news?"

"We'll have to wait and see. Envy, I've got a job for you," Dante said, putting a hand on her hip. Envy sat down, crossing his legs lazily.

"Tell me what to do," he replied.

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Roy edged out from under Riza's sleeping body. She'd fallen asleep watching the starts with him. He got up slowly, walking to the door and opening it. He closed it quietly and locked it. He walked down the hallway, heading to the hospital branch.

"Is he awake yet?" Roy asked Hughes, who passed him by on the way out.

"Yeah, he asked for you," Hughes replied, "Listen, I need to get home. We'll deal with this in the morning, agreed?" Roy nodded, heading in. Hughes left.

"Hey Ed, you still up?" Roy asked, puling a chair up beside the bed with a sigh. Ed looked over to Roy, nodding.

"Turn the light on." Ed said, looking to the desk lamp. Roy pulled down on the chain, dim light spilling across the room as he did so. "Roy, why didn't you finish it?" Ed's voice was raspy and tired, but strong through it all.

"Ed…" Roy started, "I got sidetracked, I had to help Hughes."

"Roy, she isn't real." Ed said plainly. "She's just a copy, and a bad one. She says she loves you? Bullshit. Complete bullshit. They can't feel love, nothing like it. They don't give, they just take, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"She isn't like the others, how can you be sure? Roy asked.

"Roy. It's a replica of Riza, not her. There isn't room for both of them, the natural laws are being scrambled and you need to fix it," Ed replied firmly. He stared at Roy.

"Goodnight Ed," Roy replied, getting up. He turned out the lamp and left.

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Riza was exhausted. She wasn't awakened until she felt her shoulders being violently shaken. She turned her head around behind her to see who it was, and was face to face with Envy. He smirked, quickly covering her mouth with one hand and putting a dagger to her throat with the other. "Now listen well Riza, we've got some things to discuss."

A/N Well, I need to get some sleep. At least five reviews as always. Another note, to Killa Pat, I don't watch Gundam Seed, I'm sorry. Well, goodnight.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N This chapter is more dialogs… much less action than the last one. Ah well, got to move the story line forward sometime. I'm feeling rather listless today, so I'll stop now and get on with the story.

Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, there would be entire episodes following Roy's relationships. Sigh…

"Lets get this clear," Envy said quietly, "If you make any noise I'm taking you back right now- god damn it!" He yelped, pulling his hand away from Riza's mouth, blowing on it. Riza wiped her mouth; perhaps she'd bitten him harder than was needed, but she had a score to settle. Envy slapped her on her already red cheek, before grabbing her face in his hand and forcing her jaw up.

"Now look at me, I don't have time for your crap. I'm here to tell you that if you say anything, you're going right back with me," Envy said quietly. He sounded like he was in a bad mood. "For now you've bought yourself a few month's freedom, I'll be back to negotiate after things settle down. Be a good little girl and you'll be fine, but if you're bad I might just have to punish you." Envy flashed her a look of amusement, taking a moment to enjoy her frustration and hatred. "Is this all clear?"

Riza grabbed his hand, yanking it away from her. "Can I tell Roy? He'll want explanations," she said, forcing calmness into her voice. "He'll start asking questions any day now." Envy stepped up to her, circling his arm around her waist and smiling.

"Alright then," he replied, "But you've got to do something for me too. An eye for an eye, a tongue for a tongue." He pulled her up to him.

Riza shuddered; disgust betraying her expression of would be calm. "Envy, you sick son of-" they both looked up as a noise filled the quiet room. The sound of a key going into the lock on the door and twisting around.

"I'll be back for your end of the bargain," Envy said quietly, staring intently at the door as the key was pulled out of the lock. Then, forming into something black and soft, he slipped out of the window. The doorknob turned and Roy walked in, looking up in surprise.

"You're up already?" He asked, walking over. "We need to go home, Riza, you look pale." He wrapped his arms around her, his warmth comforting. He tried to hold her closer, but Riza shivered, pushing away. An image of Envy entered her mind. He was laughing.

"Lets go," she said quietly, walking with Roy out of the door. Roy couldn't help but sigh. Riza was so… distant. They'd been through so much before; but this seemed different. He could feel her avoiding contact with him as they walked down one of the hallways, always a step or two behind. Roy stopped suddenly, grabbing Riza as she bumped into him.

"Riza, what is it?" he asked desperately, "What's bothering you? I finally get back my wife and she won't even let me hug her, none the less say anything. I'm sorry, I know it's hard for you, but I need to be near you, I need to hear you talk about your day, and I need to know that you really aren't dead, because you sure as hell aren't acting like it!" Riza was surprised, somewhat disturbed. What could she tell him? I just accidentally promised Envy a booty call? I might become a fucking lab rat? Riza settled for leaning into Roy, unable to force on a smile. Roy hugged her, clutching the fabric of the oversized tee shirt she still wore.

"I love you Roy," she said quietly, "But I need some time. I'll tell it all to you… when I can. I can't give you anymore than that. I love you." Roy sighed, stroking her hair.

"Lets go," he replied, leading her to the door and outside to a military issue car. Riza followed him gratefully, unable to resist his touch, and at the same time unable to accept it. She felt… almost tainted. She'd been marked.

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Roy woke up early the next morning, shutting off his alarm as quick as he could. Riza hadn't woken up yet. He got up, getting dressed, scribbled out a quick note, and left. It wasn't until about noon that Riza actually did wake up, her mouth pasty and uncomfortable. She rolled over onto her side, too tired to bother getting up. Her eyes wandered lazily to her clock, pausing there. Sitting up, rubbing her eyes Riza looked around, taking a second look to her clock. "Noon?" she yelled, jumping up on instinct, before sitting back down. She looked to Roy's desk; there was a note on it.

"What's this?" Riza thought out loud, filling the void of silence. She picked it up, reading it. Riza smiled, sighing.

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"I think I'll go visit Ed," Roy said, getting up from his desk. The papers could wait; they weren't due for another hour or two anyways. No one made any moves to stop him as he walked out of his office and down the hallways. When Roy got there, Ed was sitting up in his bed, reading a book. "Hey Ed," Roy said, smiling weakly as he sat down. "How's it going?"

"They're letting me out in a few days," Ed replied, making a dog-ear on the side of the page he was on and putting the book down on his lap. "Got stitches this morning, I'll be fine. I won't get my bandages off yet though, and I'll still need more recovery time, so don't go losing Riza again for another few months okay?" Roy grinned at the news.

"Listen Edward, I should never have put you in that position, I'm sorry," Roy stated, getting it off of his chest.

"You know… you're a real bastard Roy," Ed said back, smiling as well, "But there's something about you that keeps me from punching you every day; I think I know why everyone's so loyal to you now. But, in return for my help, tell me how Riza's doing. And what happened."

"I'm not even sure myself," Roy replied, "She's doing really well. Things are still a bit awkward, but I think it'll all work out in the end. I'm just… I'm so relieved."

"So Roy, when are you going back?" Ed asked after a minute or two of silence.

"I don't know," Roy replied solemnly, "I… I don't know."

"You need to go as soon as you can," Ed said, looking out of the window, "While she's still weak. Before the end of the week Mustang, you need to do this."

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Riza paced back and forth. Roy had already left, and had told her to stay home. What with everyone thinking she was dead, she had little choice. She jumped as the phone rang, relieved at something to do. "Hello?" she asked, picking up the phone.

"Riza? Is everything alright?" Roy asked. Riza smiled to herself at hearing his voice.

"Yeah, it's great over here. Black Hayate's keeping me company," she laughed. "When are you getting back?"

"Probably about six or so, Riza, I need to know what happened while you were away, I can't talk about it anymore until I get back. I need to go, I'll see you tonight okay?" Roy's voice fizzed over the phone line. Riza bit her lip, losing her voice for a moment.

"Yeah, sure," she finally replied, "I love you." Roy was halfway through saying the same thing when Riza hung up the phone. "Before it was rape," she said quietly to herself, "But now I have a choice. But… now I have a choice." She sat back down on the bed they shared, and buried her face into her pillow, sobbing.

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Sloth walked into the flat, bringing with her a sack of groceries. "She's alive," She said quietly to Envy who was laying on the couch. He cocked his head up.

"Which one?"

Roy, worlds away, sat back down at his desk, his mind wandering. It was raining outside.

A/N Not my best chapter, but more setting up for others. I'm eating Sticky Toffee Pudding Haagen-Dazs ice cream; did anyone else see the special on that on the food channel? It is delicious. I am ranting. I'll update soon as I get my next chance, school's started, so that won't be as often as I'd like, but such is life. Goodnight.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N Yum… ice cream… ahem. Back on topic. This was a fun chapter to type. I don't know why, I make everyone miserable in it… but I so enjoy it. God I'm sadistic. Well, school sucks, I hate homework, and the usual ranting. Nothing else to say, so here.

Disclaimer: I own no part of FMA or any rights to it.

"I'm going," Roy mumbled, pulling on his coat and getting up. "Hughes, lock the door when you leave okay?"

"Yeah, are you going to see," Hughes started, stopping as Roy gestured for him to be silent. He gave the slightest of nods, opening the door and leaving. He was leaving early, he knew, but he had to. No… he wanted to. But he couldn't concentrate, and he'd already done most of his paperwork, so he had nothing to lose, and the possibility of gaining everything by leaving. And that was good enough for Roy.

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Riza had started cooking dinner. She had nothing to do, and it helped her calm down. She hadn't expected Roy to ask for answers this early; she needed more time. She had to tell him… she simply had to. He deserved to know. Riza bit her lip, stirring the pot of noodles. She had a couple of hours or so until Roy got back. Riza stared into space, thinking this all over and dreading the inevitable choice she'd have to make, before looking up at a noise. She looked over; Roy was tapping on the window.

"Roy?" she gasped, "You're, why are you home so early?" Riza stopped. Roy was smiling. Not smirking, not striking a sexy pose, not even looking depressed and thoughtful, but smiling. Riza's smile fell and she let go of hope. "Envy, what the fucking hell are you doing here?"

"You're too clever for me," Roy said, finally smirking and morphing into Envy. "I've got news for you, let me in."

"You can tell me from outside," Riza said, biting her lip. She'd gotten into a habit of doing that lately it seemed. "I'd sooner lock the windows and doors than let you in."

Envy pouted, over-dramatizing his annoyance. He looked like he was in a disgustingly good mood. "Listen chick, either you let me in now, or I punch through this window, and you'll have that to explain too." Riza paused, then picked up the frying pan and walked to the door, letting Envy in. Her guns were still upstairs.

"Alright, now tell me what it is and get out of here," Riza said, holding up the pan threateningly.

"Quite the hostess aren't you," Envy said sarcastically, "Are you just going to have me stand here? This could take a while."

"What do you expect, a cup of tea and seat at the table?" Riza spat.

"Yes, thank you for the offer," Envy replied, glaring at her. "You know some of us don't hold up pointless grudges, I've forgiven you. A little bit."

"Envy," Riza said exasperatedly, sighing. "You know what? There is no reasoning with you, so I'm not even going to try. Go sit down, I'll get the tea."

"That's more like it," Envy replied, nonchalantly walking over and sitting down at the table. Riza poured hot water into two cups, dropping in a couple of tea bags and sitting across Envy at the table. Wait… why had she agreed to this?

"Alright Envy, tell me what's going on," Riza said. Envy picked up his cup, taking a sip.

"Lets put it this way," Envy said, trying to decide where to start, "Both Lust and Greed are not doing well, thanks to your boyfriend."

"Husband," Riza cut in.

"Right, right, whatever. Well, Lust is going to live if we're lucky, but Greed is headed towards death. It's too early in her development to take away the red stones like that," Envy put his cup back down.

"Why should I care?" Riza asked, her shoulders dropping as she relaxed. Lust would live.

"To put it simply, if her health keeps getting worse, we're taking you back. Just to see what happens; we won't keep you this time," Envy said, "You'll be back again before anyone notices." Riza took a gulp of her tea; it scalded her throat but it was good.

"How do I know you'll bring me back? What if I don't want to be a lab rat?" She asked, her voice bitter.

"Then we'll take you by force and keep you there. It's your choice," Envy stated, gulping his tea, "That's not my only reason for coming though." Riza stopped breathing for a moment; she'd been dreading this. "Tell me, have you made your decision as to my offer? I know you haven't told him yet, but word around the block is that he's asking for answers already. What do you say?" Envy didn't particularly care whether Riza chose to tell Roy or not; sure more sex would be nice, but either way she'd hate herself, so it was pretty much a win-win situation.

Riza picked up her glass, drinking the last of the tea. She got up without a word, going back to the kitchen and refilling it. "You're going to have to chose sometime," Envy said as Riza walked back into the room and sat down. "You know that."

"No matter what I do now," Riza began, "I hurt myself, or someone around me. What choice do I have?"

"You or Roy," Envy said simply, "It's as easy as that. Who do you betray?"

Riza closed her eyes, her face falling into a calm sort of sadness. She resigned herself to her fate. "I need to tell Roy, Envy, that's that." Envy smirked.

"Somehow I knew it would come to this," he said simply, "You're just too nice."

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Roy slammed the door of the car, walking faster than perhaps was needed to his house. He couldn't help but be nervous, couldn't help but wonder if he'd dreamed it all and she really was dead. He pulled out his keys, stopping. The door was already open. Roy eased it open quietly, stepping in. "I'm home early," he said, trying to hold his voice steady as his chest clenched with growing anticipation of something horrible. "Riza?"

He turned into the kitchen, walking into it and to the door and opening it. In the dining room, on the table, Riza lay sprawled out with no shirt on. Envy was straddling her hips, as she stared with a look of a horrible sort of sadness. They both looked up. An awkward silence of surprise, and rising horror and, on Roy's behalf anger, was rising in the room. Roy pulled on a glove, pulling it out threateningly.

"Get off of my wife." His voice spoke seriousness above all; he was too in shock for anything else. Riza's chest rose and fell with her quicker breathing, as tears began to fill her eyes. She prayed. She prayed that Envy would just leave.

"What do you know," Envy said in slight amusement, "It's Mustang. Don't worry Roy, Riza and me have a deal worked out, she agreed to this." Riza stopped holding it back and let the tears roll out of her eyes silently. "Isn't that right?" Envy asked, leaning over Riza. A burst of flame in midair separated them.

"Get the hell out." Roy said in a horribly calm serious manner. "Now."

Envy smiled evilly, leaning into Riza until his head was beside hers and she could feel his hot breath on her skin. The hairs on her neck rose. "I'll be back later." He whispered it barely loud enough even for Riza to hear, before getting up, forming into a black cat in a flash of light, and skirting Roy, paced out of the door. Riza rolled off of her back and onto her side, curling up into the fetal position and sobbing. "Riza," Roy said quietly, stepping forward to hug her.

"No!" Riza yelled, pushing him back. "Don't touch me." She curled up even tighter, hugging her knees.

A/N Yup. I'll try to update soon, we'll see. Oh, good news! I finally got the 'Corpse Bride' DVD, I haven't seen it since it was playing in theatres, but I love it! It's so awesome… one of my personal favorite movies. It makes me smile… read and review, I'm going to bed.


	19. Envy is hot

A/N Extra long chapter. As always, school is sucking the creative life out of me, so I haven't updated many of my fics in quite a while. But it is the weekend, so I'll try to get to them both, for now here's this. I think I deserve a bowl of ice cream…

"Riza, Riza, talk to me," Roy said desperately, fear clutching his throat tightly. He ignored her pushing away, and came forward, embracing Riza. She tried to get away for a minute longer, before finally collapsing tiredly in his arms. Roy patted her back, rubbing it gently in the way that his mother had always comforted him. He could feel Riza's warmth, her hot breath on his cheek, her warm tears. "Riza, what happened? What's going on?"

Riza choked in an attempt to speak, then just shook her head still sobbing. Roy hugged her tighter; he couldn't believe what he'd seen. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have come home early. And he simply out right refused to believe what he'd heard.

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Envy had a certain self-centered way of walking into a room that seemed to imply that he owned it and that had always annoyed everyone else. Sloth and Wrath were the only ones to have to endure it today. "Where were you?" Sloth asked Envy as he plopped down lazily on the couch.

"Just updating Riza on the standing of everything; like I'm supposed to," He added, glaring at Sloth. Sloth's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, a mere fraction of an inch, but just enough to notice.

"Envy… That was going to be my job. Why did you want it so badly?" Sloth asked slowly. Wrath sat in her lap, ogling Envy as she brushed his long, mangy hair.

"And just what are you trying to say Sloth?" Envy asked, his voice biting.

"I'm not implying anything," Sloth said emotionlessly, "It's just that you've been seeing her so often lately… it makes me wonder whether it really was Lust who let her send out that note." Envy jumped up from the couch, looking ready to kill.

"What the hell? You know why I wanted to see her? I wanted to see her suffer! I hate her, and I hate all humans!" He yelled furiously. "I want to be the one to kill her!" Sloth's eyebrows did not lower.

"Wrath dear, go check how Lust is doing, I need to speak to Envy for a minute," she smiled sweetly down at the homunculus child, who, sensing the state of things, reluctantly nodded and left.

"And what about you, acting like a mom?" Envy snarled, "Protecting your poor little baby from big bad Envy eh? But after all, he's just a replacement isn't he?" Envy was out to make Sloth regret starting up this fight, and he knew exactly which spots were still sore on her. And he just dropkicked one of them.

"Envy, that's enough," Sloth replied nonchalantly, her voice only hinted with the slightest signs of anger. "I just think it's… abnormal. You always get tired of your toys by now, no matter how much you hate them or how hard to get they are. I'm just wondering if… you're getting a bit attached to her? You don't call her Hawkeye anymore you know, don't think I haven't noticed." Envy glared at her with all of his might.

"Well Sloth, it seems you're a bit too observant for your own good," Envy said, smirking evilly. "Don't forget, I'm the oldest, and I can make Dante get rid of you any time I want. And let me make this perfectly clear; I want Riza dead. There's no way in hell that I'd ever be attached in any way other than the want to see her suffering in the most horrible ways." He looked up, a pure malice and insane joy gracing his face, and Sloth sat back down on her chair. Same old Envy.

"Perhaps I thought it through too much," Sloth finally said, satisfying Envy into sitting back down. Her emotionless face hid it, and his casual manner hid it as well, but they both knew now they simply had to wait for the other to slip up. It wouldn't be long.

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"Riza, quiet down, it's going to be okay," Roy said gently, as he'd been for the past few minutes, cradling Riza in his arms. "There was nothing you could have done about it, it's alright, and I'm here now. Is that what you didn't want to talk about? Is that… what Envy did to you while you were away?" Riza took great gasps of air, as though she would suffocate if she breathed the normal amount. Roy sighed, rubbing her back.

"Riza, listen to me," he said quietly, cupping her cheek and turning it towards him. "This was a horrible thing for us both, but we're going to make it through it okay? We have each other; it's going to be all right. He's a homunculus, there's nothing you could have done about it." Riza stared at him, freezing at these words. A look of desperate fear and sadness crossing her.

"Riza?" Roy asked, gulping down air just as Riza had been a moment before, his heart beating faster every second. "Riza, Envy was lying, he raped you didn't he?"

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Envy got up, his bad temper catching up with him as he stomped out of the living room and into his bedroom. He looked around, outrage tearing at him, and picked up the newspaper, ripping it in two. He continued to tear it up, throwing the pieces over the floor, not caring one bit whether they were cleaned up or not. He wandered around, kicking random things; everything Envy kept in his room was very resilient for this very purpose. He sat down on his bed, picking up a dagger and cleaning the dirt out from under his fingernails with it.

So, now he knew who he couldn't trust. It didn't matter though, No one would believe Sloth, and besides, he really did have nothing to do with the note getting out. Envy's room had, long ago, had a large full-length mirror in the corner. Then one day it broke after being pushed about a bit too hard, and he'd kicked the pieces beneath his bed. After all, cuts, pain, it all meant nothing to him unless he was the one causing it.

Envy reached under the bed, picking up a large shard of the glass, and gazed into it thoughtfully. Within a second, he was staring into the reflection of the face of Riza Hawkeye. Her eyes narrowed after a moment, before she threw the piece of mirror across the room into the wall where it shattered on impact.

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"Riza, you didn't chose for this to happen," Roy said half heartedly, his mind shutting down at the absurdity of it all. But Riza's face spelled out what she couldn't bear to say. Roy let go of her, getting up. His look of astonishment slowly fell into one of deep, terrible sadness, before he turned and walked out of the room.

"Roy," Riza finally said quietly as he put on his coat. She spoke louder. "Roy, I had to, you don't know," she started, before Roy simply walked out of the door into the rain, closing it quietly without looking back.

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"Envy, where are you? Dante's asking for you," Sloth said through the crack in the door; it had been locked. Envy lay in bed sleepily.

"Fuck off," he said simply, "Tell Dante I'll see her tomorrow." Sloth stared through the crack in the door, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. She watched Envy lying in his room, before turning out the light and flipping onto his side in bed, facing away from Sloth. He curled up into a ball under the covers, and she assumed that he'd gone to sleep. Something here was wrong.

Sloth looked back as she heard a noise. The door closed as Dante walked in, looking about the messy apartment in unveiled disgust. "Master," Sloth said in surprise, immediately falling to her knees and bowing.

"Get up Sloth," she replied, waving her hand impatiently. "Where's Envy? I asked for him what must have been an hour ago, I need help with Lust."

"He's in his room, gone to sleep," Sloth said steadily, as Dante strode past her. She rattled the doorknob, and unable to open it, clapped her hands together, pressing them against the door. There was a click and it fell open, as Dante walked in, turning on the light.

"Envy, get up," she said, bending down beside his bed and shaking one of his shoulders gently. "Time to wake up, I don't have the time for this." She pulled Envy over to look in his face, stopping in shock. Dante got up, taking a step back as Envy sat up. "Envy…" She said, dazed, "Envy, you're…"

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"Hello, Maes Hughes," Hughes said, putting the phone to his ear.

"Maes, it's me," came a rough voice from the other side of the phone, one that he could recognize anywhere.

"Roy? How's it going, where are you?" He asked, sitting down.

"Not good, I'm in a phone booth," Roy replied, "Hughes, augh…" He sat down in the phone booth, rubbing his temples. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm… I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do about this all!" He yelled, leaning his back against the side of the phone booth. Silent tears rolled down his face as he stared at the rain outside the window.

"Tell me where you are, I'll come pick you up," Hughes replied after a moment. "This sounds too deep to talk about over the phone." Roy nodded solemnly, closing his bleary eyes and sighing.

"This is the street name."

A/N I love Envy. Love him, love him, love him! And yes, I have finally seen the end of the series, and I still love him, even though I cried after episode 50. Long and hard, about half an hour of crying, then just running around the house screaming. But once I got over the shock and horror, I still loved him. I love his insanity, his sadistic nature, and his jealousy; all in all I just adore him. I like playing him out, and I like making him in character, out of character, and into other characters. Well, I've got to go get some sleep, so I'll see you all later. Enjoy the wonderfulness that is Envy.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N Sorry I haven't updated in a while, school has been keeping me quite busy. I'm really… you know? Lets save this rant for later and just get on with the story, extra long chapter.

"Envy, you've… you've never acted this way," Dante said in simple, horrible shock as Envy got up. "Envy…" He rubbed his eyes, trying to glare at Dante. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"It's that stupid bitch," Envy muttered, tears streaming from his wide eyes as he stared at the floor. "This is all her fault, I can't stand it."

"Envy, explain yourself," Dante ordered, taking a step back. "Who is it?"

"Riza Hawkeye," he said, looking back up at Dante. "I need to kill her."

"Envy, you know we can't allow it, I thought you'd gotten over that," Dante replied, unable to get a grip on what was going on.

"You haven't seen her face!" Envy yelled furiously, "You haven't seen what she looks like!"

"And why should that matter?" Dante yelled back. There was a flash of light and Envy disappeared, replaced by Riza. Dante stood unfazed, irritated, and confused. "I don't get it, Envy, stop messing around!"

Riza fell to her knees, curling up into a little ball on the floor started to sob. "You've forgotten, but I haven't!" Everyone could hear him now he was so outraged, so loud, so desperate. "I didn't at first, I knew I hated her, but I didn't know why! But I remember her face! And I don't know where from, it's there in my mind and I just do!"

Dante thought desperately. "Sloth, keep watch over Envy, I'll deal with Lust myself," she said, turning and walking to the door. "Keep him from doing anything he'll regret."

"No!" Envy yelled, standing up, his eyes wide with loathing. "I'm going to kill her."

"Envy, you can't! I order you to stay here," Dante yelled, turning back around, her eyes widening. "Don't you dare disobey me!" She said after a moment of realization. Envy leaned on one of his legs, a hand on his hip as he relaxed slightly.

"You can go fuck off," he said, pronouncing every syllable slowly and with deep emphasis. Then, turning, he took a running jump out of the window, the already broken glass cutting his arm as he flew past, and landed like a cat, looking around for only a second before darting out of sight.

"Sloth, get there before him! Now!" Dante said desperately, turning the woman. Sloth gave Dante the slightest of nods, before flowing into water and pouring out of the door. "God damn it," Dante said furiously, striding out of the building with her fists clenched.

Everything was falling apart, first Lust and then Envy… Dante had to regain control. She walked quickly down the spiraling staircase, going from room to room until she came to the room where Lust was. Who was there left, Dante thought quickly, Wrath was with Gluttony, Sloth was being held up by Envy, and Pride was at home with his family. No one was on hand. Suddenly, Dante moved to a side door, bursting through it. What did she have to lose? "Greed!" She yelled, walking in.

The homunculus looked up from the bed that she sat on. "Master…" she replied.

"Have you fully healed yet?" Dante asked, lowering her voice. Greed nodded uncertainly. "Get in here then!" Dante replied, a desperate edge to her voice. Greed got up, following Dante back.

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"So, what is it Roy?" Hughes asked, finally breaking the silence. The car engine was the only other sound as they went down a murky street. "Wife problems?" Roy put his face in his hands, staring down at his lap.

"You always seem to see strait through me Maes," he said after a moment. "She was half naked when I got home."

"That sounds like something that would cheer you up," Hughes stated, looking over to Roy. But not looking at him for too long, because he was driving. "Come on, not even a smirk?"

"…Half naked with another man." Hughes stopped the car outside of his house, turning off the engine. He looked up at this addition, eyebrows raised. "And by man, might I elaborate and say half naked with Envy," Roy said, still staring at the floor in horrible disbelief at what he was saying.

"Roy, there's got to be some sort of explanation," Hughes stated, equally unable to believe it. Roy shook his head, surprising even himself as he did it.

"She was willing." His eyes started to water, "She didn't deny it." He ran his hand through his hair, holding his forehead in his hands. Hughes sat back in the car seat, patting Roy on the back.

"Come on Roy, you know that she loves you," he said gently, relaxing as he lay back and stared at the ceiling.

"Really?" Roy said, wiping his eyes, his voice still cracked. "Then why wouldn't she even say a word of what happened? Why wouldn't she even let me hug her, hold hands with her, feel her skin or smell her hair when she got back? Why would she act like nothing happened, not say a single thing to me, and then agree to have sex with Envy?"

"If I've learned one thing from marriage, it's that no matter how bad it gets there's always a reason for everything. Think about it Roy, why wouldn't she want to tell you anything? What would be her motives?" Hughes asked.

"How should I know?" Roy said angrily. Hughes gave him a look, and Roy lay back in his seat as well. "Maybe… God damn it, I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He sighed, looking back out the window.

"Maybe she had something really bad happen to her while there," Hughes said, glancing to Roy. "I know that if I, hypothetically of course, was kidnapped and, say, hurt or raped or tortured for information I wouldn't want to tell Gracia. It would be too painful… and I wouldn't want to make her sad." Roy watched water dripping down the side of the window, rain splattering on the spot he was focused on.

"As for Envy," Hughes continued, "Well, I'm not really sure about that one, but maybe he had something she needed or something along those lines… blackmail. If Gracia or someone else I cared about was in danger, I would agree to it." Roy sighed, looking back down.

"How is it that you make everything I do look bad?" He asked, a slight smile coming up on his face.

"Come inside, you're wet," Hughes said, opening up his car door and catching Roy's eye. "Gracia just baked an apple pie today, I insist. If you don't get a nice hot cup of coffee in you you'll freeze to death, and then how could you figure this mess out?" Roy raised his eyebrows, looking to Hughes. After a moment of indecision, he popped open his door, following Hughes.

"You know, that's the horrible thing about you Maes; I just can't argue with you."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Anyone home?" Riza's head looked up at the sound of a voice echoing from all around her. "Look who I found, where's that sweet husband of yours? Decided that you were a bit to whorish for his taste?" Envy asked in dark humor, stepping out from behind the doorway.

"What now Envy?" Riza screamed as she stood up, wiping angry tears from her eyes. "You've already destroyed my life, you've already taken away the man I love, what more are you going to do you heartless son of a bitch?"

"You know you look so cute when you yell," Envy said, walking up to Riza. "I could just rip your heart out and force it down you throat, both of our problems would be solved then, wouldn't they?"

"I guess they would," Riza replied, "But then who would you have to spend your spare time harassing? You can't have many people still alive who you hate so much." Riza glared at him defiantly and mercilessly. But there was something broken as well in that stare. "There's nothing more that you can take from me, you've already made my life pointless and horrible. I don't even care if you're here to rape me, to kidnap me, whatever."

"What about to kill you?" Envy asked, getting more and more annoyed by her lack of reaction. Riza made no move of surprise, or even emotion. "You used to fear me so much, what happened to that beautiful, blood curdling scream you used to pull every time I walked into a room?"

"Just do it Envy, we both know that I can't beat you, and I'm really not in that much of a mood for small talk," Riza replied. Envy's eyebrows furrowed.

"Well I am," he stated, frowning.

"Fine!" Riza yelled. "I'm really pissing you off aren't I? Here you come to kill me, but guess what? My life's already over, I'd be positively happy to die at this point! Really a mood killer isn't it? So what now Envy? Kill me! Rape me! I don't fucking care anymore!" Envy lunged forward, grabbing her by the throat and lifting Riza off of the ground. Riza grinned as tears flooded her vision. Envy threw her to the ground after a few seconds.

"You weren't bluffing," he said, staring as Riza coughed, stumbling up.

"Then why don't you just not kill her? Do us both a favor, you know it'll be no fun if you do, so there's no more point," came the deep voice of Sloth, who flowed into the room, reforming and stepping forward in her high heeled shoes.

A/N I'm sorry, I really complain too much, but hell, what's one more rant? My day today was filled with crap. There is no other way to describe it. I typed this up earlier, so I hope it isn't too bad, but right now… well. I am very sorry, but as I'm so very busy because of school, and because of the return of my depression, updates will probably be less often than usual, and my humor fic will have to wait. I know this is the second time I've pulled the depression card on you guys, and I'm sorry, but right now, as simply as I can put it, I really, really hate my life. Reviews are appreciated; I think I'm going to go to bed.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N I'm in a rather strange mood. Short chapter, but that's that. If I don't get my minimum of five reviews, as I did not last chapter, I won't post stories and I'll just keep them on my desktop. I ask for less than most, so please indulge me. It's not worth my while otherwise.

Envy looked up, glaring at Sloth. "Come now Envy, be reasonable," She said, stepping beside him and putting her hand on his shoulder. "Once we take her back you can torment the poor woman as much as you want." Envy elbowed Sloth in the ribs, stepping away from her.

"Tell me Sloth, when will that be?" He asked sarcastically, cocking his head to the side. "You know you just ruined my mood, so it'd better be soon." Sloth let go of her stomach, slowly regaining her composure and standing tall again as her body healed itself.

"That isn't for me to decide Envy," she said coldly, "But Greed has almost completely recovered, so it should just be in a few days." Envy stared at Riza, looking her up and down, before sighing.

"I really can't even describe how much I hate the two of you, you know that? But you do have a point…" Envy forced down his rage, biting his tongue. He would wait until she had something to lose; this was just pissing him off even more. "Let's go," he said, turning and taking a few decided steps toward the door, clenching and unclenching his fists; Sloth guided him, her hand still on his shoulder.

"So Envy, that's it?" Riza asked, "I thought you hated me enough to kill me. Do you really follow your master's orders, like some sort of dog? Or are the two of you fucking?" Envy stopped, mid step, tensing.

"Envy, now," Sloth said wearily, trying to pull him with her and continue out of the door, but Envy simply swung around, kicking through her stomach as he stepped back down to face Riza. Water splashed all over, as a sigh could be heard echoing throughout the room from it. "Envy…"

"That's it," Envy yelled, "I was going to let you live, but like hell I am now! I don't give a shit what Dante thinks!" Riza glared at him just as ruthlessly as he glared at her, striding forward. Suddenly, they both stopped, looking down at a noise near the ground. Hayate had come in through his dog door, and had immediately, upon determining the situation, jumped in front of Riza and begun to feverishly bark as loud as he could.

Riza began to think in that moment, think beyond the pain and the horror, to see things she hadn't before. She saw Ed calling her up to ask about her earlier that day, the relief in his voice at hearing her again; she saw Roy hugging her, trying to fix the things that she had ruined, and forgiving her for everything on a whim; and she saw Black Hayate standing protectively in front of her, willing to go to any means to help her. And she began to cry as she thought of all of the people who still cared about her, as she realized that through this pain, through making it back alive… she'd been given a second chance. Envy continued forward, kicking Hayate away with little effort, and saw what he'd been waiting for. Riza's eyes grew wide with renewed fear as he came forward, in turn grinning wider as he sensed her fear. "Hayate, code B!" she yelled, thanking god that she'd spent that month drilling Hayate on situations like this. Then, whipping around, Riza ran out of the room as fast as she could, just behind Hayate, slamming the door shut behind her.

Envy began to run as well, before Sloth reformed in front of him. "Envy, come back with me," Sloth said plainly, "Now." She fell into a pool of water as Envy made for the other door, swirling around his body like an enormous snake, fleshing out as he stopped.

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"I've got to go back, Maes, think you can give me a ride?" Roy asked, smiling weakly as he set down his half drunk mug of coffee. Hughes looked up, smiling knowingly and nodding. Gracia quickly walked out of the kitchen as Roy pulled on his raincoat, opening the door to go, and stopped him.

"Here, for you and Riza, you didn't eat any," she said warmly, handing Roy a paper bag. He looked inside, the smell of warm apple pie hitting him in a wave. He closed it, smiling, and turned and walked out the door, waving, as Hughes quickly followed him.

A/N I could see Riza training Hayate like that… for intruders and fires and anything she could think of, heehee… well, good night.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N Hey there people! I'm in a pissed off mood today, so let's hope this helps me a bit. I enjoy typing, and I love this story so much… I really couldn't stop typing, especially to make up for my last chapter. But really, no reviews and I find no need to post these stories; that tells me that either no one reads them, or no one likes them, and since I've got an average of around 100 viewers per chapter and, as shown chapter before last, sometimes less than five reviews, I can only think that you don't like it, or find some sort of unsettling amusement in taunting the authoress. Now that we're past that ugly business, here's the next chapter of my ever fun to write story!

Hughes parked the car, turning off the engine. He looked over to Roy, who sighed; making no move to, well, move. "We're here," Hughes said, breaking the silence. Roy smiled, nodding. He didn't really seem happy.

"I'll see you later Hughes," he said, opening the car door and stepping out.

"Roy, also," Hughes suddenly said, "I almost forgot to tell you, but I just heard that Edward's being released this week, just in a few days."

"Finally some good news," Roy said calmly, saluting Hughes hastily, before slamming the door shut. The car rumbled back to life, as Hughes left and Roy walked up to his house, pie in hand. He pushed open the door, stepping in; it had been left open. "Riza?" he asked, walking in just to see a door at the top f the staircase slam shut. Frowning, he made to step up the stairs, before he turned; he could hear yelling coming from the other room. Roy pressed himself against the door, opening ever so slightly, before slamming it open and stepping in, slipping on one of his gloves.

"Let go!" Screamed Envy, as Sloth's watery form surrounded him in an aqua prison. He thrashed, pushing through her just as quickly as she could recover her hold on him. "Mustang?"

Sloth took the moment Envy spent surprised to regain her hold on him. "Mustang," she spoke with her deep voice, "I can't hold Envy, get Riza, now!" Roy stared in shock, trying to put together the situation. "She's upstairs, now!" Sloth yelled. Roy nodded, unable to think of anything else to do, and turned and ran out the door and up the staircase.

"Riza, let me in," he yelled through the door; it had been locked. "I'm back, let's talk!" Riza glanced out of the keyhole, staring at him.

"How do I know you're not Envy?" She asked cautiously, her heart beat racing. Roy sighed exasperatedly, looking down the staircase where Envy was being restrained. They didn't have time for this.

"Step away from the door Riza," he commanded. Roy raised his glove, snapping his fingers as flames covered the side of the door, melting down the lock. He backed up, running forward into the door with his shoulder first, snapping the lock and falling into the room. Riza pressed herself into a corner of the room, holding some sewing scissors. "Calm down," Roy said, pulling himself up painfully, "homunculi can't do alchemy, that should have been enough proof. Riza breathed out heavily, her shoulders slumping as she relaxed.

"Where's Envy?" She asked, her shoulders becoming tense again. Roy heard a yell, and a door being slammed open.

"Speak of the devil," he said, turning around and slamming the door, leaning all of his weight against it. Riza's eyes widened, running up beside him and leaning on the door as well. "Riza, move," he said sternly, looking down at her as they heard a splash of water.

"Not again Roy," Riza replied stubbornly, "I'm not leaving you this time." A frenzy of footsteps up the staircase was heard as Roy glared at Riza. She didn't budge. Roy grabbed hold of her arm, throwing her behind him as he threw open the door, snapping his fingers, and only a second later slammed it shut, leaning back against it. The door flew open, snapped in half by Envy and by the explosion that followed him, blowing everything and everyone away.

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Lust sat up, wiping saliva from her chin, sweating profusely. "It's never as easy the second time around," she laughed sadly, staring at the floor. "Taking in the stones, that is." Dante's foot tapped as she looked around, pacing.

"They should have been back 10 minutes ago at least, this isn't good," she muttered, glancing at a clock. "I should have known Sloth couldn't restrain Envy, Lust, are you well enough to leave?" Lust looked up at her, still smiling.

"Are you kidding me? I can barely move Dante, I'll need at least a week more to recover," she said, kicking her legs back and forth in a macabre humor. "Again."

"You'll be able to eat them again in a couple hundred years without the discomfort, Envy had a hard time with them as well," Dante commented, "After their initial growth process, homunculi usually find it hard to eat them again. Damn it, what're they doing?"

"Master, let me go," Greed said, stepping in front of Dante. "I'm the only one left, please, let me go." Dante glared at her.

"Greed, I can't risk that, if she must die then I'd rather it be her than you," Dante replied briskly, "You're much to important."

"But Dante," Greed yelled, "If she dies I might die! You don't know what'll happen, so either way it's an equal risk isn't it?" Dante glared at her, her mouth opening to yell. She stopped, breathing out, biting her lip.

"Go!" she finally said, waving her hand towards the door. "Bring him back to me!" Greed smiled, turning and darting out the door.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Roy lay on top of Riza, sitting up and brushing the dust and rubble from what used to be a doorway off of him. It looked like Riza had passed out. Envy lay on the floor a few feet away, unmoving. Water flowed in as Roy tried to regain his bearings, looking around. Sloth formed, stepping cautiously around the shattered wood fragments towards Envy, crouching down beside him.

"What're you doing here?" Roy asked, trying to stand up but falling back down as his mind came out of shock and his leg burned with pain. In his greater knowledge, legs really weren't supposed to bend that way. Sloth picked up Envy's limp form, cradling him, before meeting Roy's gaze.

"Right now it appears that we're leaving," she stated, "I would check on your wife if I were you." Sloth got up. One of Envy's eyes cracked open, lazily sweeping the scene, focusing for only a moment before closing. He seized up, coughing a mouthful of blood up. "Come now, stop being over dramatic Envy," Sloth scolded, smiling ever so slightly as she turned to leave. Sloth stopped mid step, taking a step backwards. "You aren't supposed to be here," she said.

"Dante sent me, so I really do think that I should be here," Greed replied, stepping in and walking up to Sloth.

"Then you can go back and tell her that I've got him," Sloth replied. Greed didn't move.

"Sloth, I want to see her," she said, "If you're going to bring Envy back before he regains his mobility and before Dante gets here herself, then maybe you should just leave."

"Don't call her by that name!" Sloth suddenly yelled. "She is the master, and if I can't call her by her true name you sure as hell can't. You've seen Lust haven't you?" Greed nodded, glaring at Sloth. "Then you know the consequences of forgetting to address the master with the sugar coated politeness that she demands. If you do anything at all, that will be you."

"I know that," Greed said simply, "And I came anyways."

"I don't have time for this," Sloth suddenly said, her gloved fingers clenching. "More than a minute and the lovely job of taking care of you will no longer rest on my shoulders." Sloth turned, flowing down the staircase, her feet an extension of her dress and a pool of water. Greed walked up and sat beside Riza, looking at her with a bored interest.

"She isn't breathing," she said after a few seconds, not looking up at Roy. Roy looked down, picking up Riza's wrist hurriedly, looking her up and down. Greed's light purple eyes were changing as she stared.

"Riza, can you hear me?" Roy asked after a few seconds, "Riza! Riza, answer me!" Greed sat back, her breath beginning to steam in the cold night air. "Riza! Are you there!" Her golden eyes began to round out, no longer slits, as Greed suddenly felt very cold.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Envy walked in, Sloth's hand on his shoulder as they found Dante pacing beside Lust's bed. "Envy!" she said, looking up as he came in. "Is she dead?"

"No," Envy replied, walking over and taking Dante's chair beside Lust's bed.

Dante looked around, surprised as Sloth nodded in acknowledgement. "And where is Greed?" she inquired.

"…She stayed behind, I had to leave before Envy healed enough to get up and try something else," she said, "She told him your name master." Sloth's lips rose as they formed these words, a seldom seen hint of joy.

"God damn it, Sloth, get her back here now!" Dante yelled furiously, "she's worth more than any of you, if we lose her… It will be the worse for everyone." Sloth's expression stony, she bowed and turned, walking back out of the door. She wouldn't deign to hurry for Greed. "Sloth! I swear, keep this up," Dante threatened as she followed Sloth out the room, slamming the door.

Silence rang throughout the air. "How are you Envy?" Lust finally asked.

"Crappy, so?" he bit, looking up at her.

"You didn't kill her at least," Lust said, "that's an upside."

"How?" Lust lay in bed, stretching her arms out as she adjusted her pillow and sat up against the head of the bed.

"Aaauuh," Lust said, grabbing her forehead as she fell forward, puking up a mouthful of red. "It hurts…"

"It always does, even after your first hundred years, so get used to it," Envy said, "They may taste great the first time, but they're never as good as you remember, even four hundred years later I enjoy them well enough, but give me a bite, maybe one or two stones, and I'm done with them."

Lust fell back against her propped up pillow, the pain having past as red stones melted on her lap, soaking the sheets of the bed. They were cheap anyways. "I think that's why you're here," Lust said after a moment. "It's the red stone, you know, too much of a good thing. That's why Riza's still alive." Envy's head cocked up, his eyebrows rising.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"That woman is like the red stone. The first few times you had her, it was great and you only wanted more," Lust explained, wiping sweat from her forehead. "But now… it's not the same. You can barely stand to think about her, and it'll be a while until you'll even be able to really look at her… and even then it won't be the same. You'll want less, just a taste here and there, you won't want to take her all at once." Envy stared at the ceiling, before getting up.

"Nice analogy, but you forgot something," he said, leaning on the back of the chair. Lust watched him.

"And what ever would that be?" She questioned.

"I'm not human, and I don't have emotions!" Envy yelled, swiveling the chair off balance and stalking out of the room. The chair fell over, and the door slammed shut. Lust smirked.

"You sure as hell are acting like it."

A/N Well, read and review, I'm going to bed.


	23. End

A/N Okay, here it comes… I'm sorry. I've been an absolute bitch about reviews, and I've been taking out my frustrations from daily life on my poor, innocent readers. I want you to all know that I read and treasure all of the reviews I receive, and they drive me onward. I'm excited for every single review, and no matter how few I get, I will always love them and continue writing with fever; I enjoy writing too much not to. This chapter is written in dedication to everyone who's given me support, and who've gone to the trouble of reading this; I love you all. And, as a final note in this, the last chapter of this fic, I'd like to thank the band Death Cab For Cutie. Your music drives on the wheels in my mind and the ocean of my imagination, I love you guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any rights to it. I only own the bad grammar and bad plots that make up my fics.

"Why's it so cold here?" Greed shivered, rubbing her arms together. Roy looked up, noticing her eyes; they grew rounder every second, the dull purple fading into amber. They were beginning to look human. "Roy, I didn't remember before now, but I need to tell you," she spouted, unable to keep herself from speaking. She shouldn't be talking to him, she shouldn't be having these thoughts or memories, facts and pictures flashing through her mind. "Roy, I never spoke until I kissed you, like I promised I would before I was taken. My favorite food is peppermint ice cream, and my favorite chocolate is dark. I feel so guilty and sad right now about Envy," she began to choke on her words as tears ran down her face, unwelcome but unstoppable, "I feel like I'll die. Why the hell does it hurt so much?" Roy looked up, watching Greed in terrified fascination as she grabbed her chest, digging at the skin above her heart with razor sharp nails.

"Greed… what the hell's going on?" he asked as she sobbed, screaming.

"It hurts so badly," she screamed, ripping through the fabric and scratching at her flesh in vain. "Why can't I die? My heart… it's suffocating me!" Roy, unable to stop himself, grabbed Greed's wrists, pulling her hands away from herself.

"Greed, look at me!" He commanded, "Is Riza dying? Is that why you're remembering this?" Greed screamed, folding up on the ground, shivering as she wrenched her hands from Roy's grasp.

"She is," Sloth said calmly, walking in. "It looks like when one of the two dies, the other gets… the life, or soul, as it was." Greed sobbed on the floor, her face pressed against the wood. "If Greed lives, Riza dies, and Greed… receives the information of her. Though I wouldn't know for sure, perhaps she's becoming human."

"I don't want to live like this," Greed cried, cutting through her skin. "My heart hurts so badly I want to die!"

"Well, go ahead then," Sloth smiled. "Roy, kill Greed and Riza might recover."

"But what if she's become human?" Roy asked, getting up, "I can't kill her… not when they look so alike."

"Time is running out," Sloth replied. "Roy, one wants to die, and the other wants to live, is the choice really that hard?" She looked down at Greed. Blood began to drip from the homunculus, doubled over on the floor. "Homunculi feel little to no pain in our whole lives, we aren't trained like humans to tolerate it. Riza feels terrible, she hates herself and it hurts. Greed can't take all of the sadness and heartache. If you don't take care of it soon, Riza will die and Greed will kill herself."

"And why would you want Greed to die?" Roy asked, realization settling in.

"…Greed is no homunculus," Sloth said, looking at her loathingly, "And yet she's not human. She cannot belong anywhere, and as such, doesn't deserve to exist. It's rather pitiable. Do it now Mustang, there's no time left for indecision." Roy closed his eyes, clapping his hands together and putting them down on the floor. An alchemy circle spread out around Greed, as Sloth took a step back.

"If that's Riza in there," Roy said quietly, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Closing his eyes, Roy put his hands on the transmutation circle, his face wet with sweat and tears. Greed looked up, her eyes widening, before she began to vomit red stones. She shrieked as she fell on her back, writhing in the light of the circle, red leaking out of her mouth as she twisted, flipping back onto her stomach. She fell, twitching, her lips parted in a silent scream as no more stones came out. Roy pulled his hands up from the circle, as Sloth flowed over and knelt beside Greed. Turning her limp body onto its back on her lap, Sloth looked at her.

"She did the hardest part of the job for you," Sloth noted as Roy, breathing heavily, walked over and sat down beside her. Greed's eyes were gray, the pupils round, but minuscule; in the end, she really was neither human nor homunculus. Her right hand was covered in gore, reaching through a rip in her skin into her chest. Sloth took the arm, pulling it out in one quick jerk. Roy looked away in disgust as Greed's hand came into sight, stiff and bloody. She was holding her own heart. "She would rather rip out her own heart than feel what she had to," Sloth mused, "Foolish, foolish girl. How's Riza?" Roy nodded, spinning around and stumbling through the debris to where Riza lay.

"Riza, Riza are you there?" he asked, looking her up and down. Her breath began to steam in the night air, the color returning to her cheeks. She opened her eyes, propping herself up on her elbows as she choked. Coughing, Riza gasped, spitting out a chunk of plaster. Her breathing desperate, she looked over to Roy, falling forward and hugging him in one movement. Roy smiled, and Sloth, in one of her few shows of mood, was able to smile as well.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"She couldn't move when she saw Hawkeye?" Envy asked, sitting across from Roy and Riza in the dining room. Sloth sat beside Envy, keeping a tab on his temper; he was holding up much better than she'd expected. Must have been Lust meddling around with him again. Roy nodded. Sloth nodded as well. "Killing her off must have been a piece of cake then," Envy laughed, "And the body's already gone, so there's nothing to take back, eh?"

"Envy, we've told you it five times," Sloth stated.

"I know, but I've got to have a report to bring back to Master," he glanced over at Roy and Riza. "Now that Greed is dead, you two will no longer be involved, unless of course you tell anyone what has happened. Then, you'll both be killed, or used for experimentation of some sort. Either way it's bad business."

"Well, we'll be going then, unless there's anything more," Sloth said in a monotone as she stood up, her chair pushing back.

"There is," Envy replied flatly. "Riza and I need to have a little discussion. We'd appreciate it if you two would leave." He glared at Roy, as Sloth shrugged, walking out the door.

"I'm not leaving you alone with her," Roy spat, "I've learned the consequences of that."

"Roy, it'll be okay," Riza replied, "I won't let him hurt me, and I sure as hell will keep anything indecent out of the equation." Roy still hesitated, looking from Riza to Envy.

"You heard the woman, and you've got my word on the matter," Envy sighed, "So go on already, shoo. I harbor no ill will towards Riza." Roy didn't quite believe that last bit, but feeling that nothing would happen unless he complied, he got up and walked out of the room, closing the door.

"Envy's always good on his word, you shouldn't worry," Sloth said plainly as Roy stood outside the door, listening to catch some of the conversation.

"Riza, do you still have that death wish?" Envy asked back inside the room, crossing one leg over the other in his seat. Riza shook her head. "…Good."

"Envy, about the deal, I know I still owe you, but I can't give myself over to you, you need to understand, I just got a second chance at life and at Roy. I'm not going to jeopardize it for anything." Envy watched Riza as she said these words, his head falling back as he laughed after she'd finished. Riza bit her lower lip.

"You know, you remind me of someone," Envy smirked, tapping a finger on the table. "A memory of a memory I guess, back from when I was human. You say you're set on Roy and you living happily ever after? How are you going to settle your score with me then?"

"…What do you want?" Riza asked, chewing on her lip. "What the hell can I give you to make you leave?" She was bitter on this note, her anger slipping. No matter how polite, no matter how careful with his words he was, Envy was a monster; she could never even dream of forgiving him. Envy's smile of macabre humor fell at this, a scowl taking its place. Then his features softened as he closed his eyes and got up, not much of anything showing itself on his face. Walking around the table, he stopped behind Riza, leaning forward and catching himself on the table, his arms caging Riza in. His breath was hot against the side of her face in the night air, as he balanced his chin on her shoulder, his hair falling over his face.

"For your end of the deal," Envy whispered quietly, his frown soft on his face, "I want you to fix things with Mustang." Riza's growing fear at their closeness fled at that moment as she turned to look at him in the face. He stood back up, before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Riza said suddenly, "Is that all?" She almost felt bad as she saw a flash of something cross Envy's face. "I mean, I could, I don't know, knit you a scarf or something," Riza stuttered, unable to really think strait.

He looked over, looking her up and down, a resigned half smile falling on his face. "There is nothing you can do for me." Riza couldn't believe her ears.

"Not even a last peck?" She asked, getting up as she was feeling the most unexpected guilt. "As a goodbye?" Envy's head fell back and he covered his eyes with his hand. Turning around, he opened the door and walked out, closing it almost silently.

"Sloth, let's go," he said, looking over to where she sat. Walking out the front door, the pair of them left, and Roy ran into the room where Riza waited.

"Riza, what happened?" Roy asked, sitting beside her and taking her hands in his. He rubbed them together to warm them up.

"Nothing really," she replied quietly. She smiled weakly at Roy.

"You want to tell me what's really going on now?" Roy smirked half-heartedly.

"Sure. We've got all of the time in the world." Riza thought this phrase over. They finally were together again, no more homunculi, no more experiments. "We've got all of the time in the world."

End


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